Quito. Can you imagine a situation in which the electricity of the entire country goes off all at once. Due to which all the essential services come to a halt. Even the traffic signals at the intersections stop working. Due to which there is an atmosphere of chaos on the roads. Yes, similar situations have arisen many times in our neighboring country Pakistan. But this time this case has not happened in Pakistan but in the South American country Ecuador. Ecuador came under the grip of a nationwide blackout on Wednesday. At around 3.15 pm, most of the people of Ecuador were left without electricity.
The situation worsened by evening
By evening, the streets of Quito and the port city of Guayaquil reverberated with the sound of car horns and drivers screaming as traffic lights stopped working and vehicles jammed city streets. Public transport systems and some water supply companies halted services in both major cities. Quito’s mayor wondered on X if the blackout had affected the city’s subway system, which uses a different power source.
Transmission line failure
The country’s Public Works Minister, Roberto Luque, said on X that he had received a report from the national electricity operator, CENACE, about a failure in a transmission line that had caused a cascade of disconnections, leaving the entire country without power. However, within a few hours, power had started to return to parts of the capital, Quito.
Chinese power plant becomes a headache
Ecuador, a South American country of 18 million people, has been struggling with power shortages for several years. Failing infrastructure, lack of maintenance and dependence on imported power have led to power cuts. Most of the country’s electricity comes from neighboring Colombia, a country that is struggling to generate enough power for its domestic consumption. A $2.25 billion Chinese-built hydroelectric plant was expected to help. But the project has become a headache. There are many flaws in the construction, which has led to a dispute between officials and the Chinese firm.
Tags: Cost of electricity, Electricity generation, Electricity prices, Electricity problem
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 21, 2024, 09:10 IST