The President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, clarified that it is not about privatization of the electricity sector.
Government has just issued executive decrees 238 and 239, which among other objectives seek to allow the private sector to generate incremental energy in at least 250 MW until 2050 with self-generators. In addition, the call for public selection processes for the concession of various projects is announced. Among them is the block 500 MW renewable energy, combined cycle Machala Thermogas, the northeastern transmission system, the 400 MW natural gas combined cyclical block and the delegated management of the Sopladora Hydroelectric Plant.
According to an official government statement, through Executive Decree No. 238, signed on October 26, 2021, the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso Mendoza, issues the policies of the Ecuadorian electricity sector “with the aim of consolidating an efficient, competitive, sustainable, environmentally responsible sector, based on innovation, that guarantees legal security and enhances private investment ”.
The document is made up of 5 articles, 20 literals, 2 transitory provisions and a final provision, which is divided into three fundamental pillars: legal and regulatory framework and legal reforms; transparency and attracting investments.
Likewise, Executive Decree 239 was also issued, which establishes the reform of the General Regulations of the Organic Law of the Public Electric Power Service that seeks to promote the participation of the private sector in the provision of the public electric power service.
As soon as the decree was issued, social sectors began to carry out critics arguing that the decrees allowed the privatization of the electricity sector. In response, the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso wrote on his Twitter account: “Clarification on Executive Decree No. 238: self-generation is NOT privatization. A factory will be able to set up its own plant to satisfy its own energy consumption. I call on the public not to fall for false news that only wants to destabilize the country ”.
Meanwhile, in an act in Cuenca, the Minister of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources, Juan Carlos Bermeo Calderón, He highlighted the issuance of new policies for the electricity sector and the reform of the regulations that constitute a clear guideline to regulate the country’s electricity activities with a vision for the future. “Both decrees have enormous significance for the country. Energy development cannot be achieved without investment and without technological improvement ”, assured authority.
He added that “through the implementation of these two decrees, the increase in installed electricity generation capacity to meet the demand foreseen in the Electricity Master Plan, as well as the optimal development of the public service of electric energy, public lighting, charging of electric vehicles and energy storage ”.
The decrees establish that within a period three months, the Ministry of Energy must carry out various actions aimed at formulating and proposing public policies, regulatory reforms, development model of the electricity sector, efficient schemes for private participation in sector projects, among others. (I)
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