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Celec says high river flows, sediment and rocky material damaged part of the Coca Codo Sinclair area after more than 20 continuous hours of pressure from the Coca River. El Comercio reports the national electric system remains guaranteed, but the episode shows why Amazon river conditions still matter for electricity users across Ecuador.
Ecuador is burning through diesel at a 23% faster rate to keep the lights on. Diesel prices jumped from .11 to .45 per gallon. And the government just failed — for the second time — to secure emergency thermal generation contracts.
Ecuador's Attorney General is seeking to formally charge 21 people — including a former Celec manager and former Energy Minister — with embezzlement tied to emergency contracts during the 2024 blackout crisis. Estimated damages exceed $100 million.
Ecuador will withhold a $98 million retention guarantee and a $36 million distributor-related guarantee — totaling $134 million — from contractor Sinohydro until parent company PowerChina assumes operation and maintenance in July 2026. The plant has 17,000+ identified distributor fissures.
Ecuador's government takes formal possession of the country's largest hydroelectric project today, ending a decade of refused acceptance over 17,661 documented fissures. China's PowerChina takes over operation and maintenance at $46M/year for 25 years. Here's what the deal contains and what it means for the country's power supply.
Energy sector expert Marco Acuña warned on April 8 that Ecuador has registered an electrical generation deficit that could trigger power cuts during peak hours. The government disagrees, but Colombia's energy cutoff and Coca Codo Sinclair's chronic underperformance create real vulnerability.
Ecuador will formally accept its largest hydroelectric plant from Chinese builder Sinohydro by April 17, despite more than 7,600 documented fissures in critical equipment that the Comptroller ordered repaired. The settlement releases approximately $200 million in guarantees back to Sinohydro. The plant currently operates at less than half its 1,500 MW capacity.
Ecuador's state electricity company CELEC has filed a lawsuit in US federal court alleging that Progen, a private contractor, delivered refurbished and non-functional emergency generators under $149 million in contracts while draining the project's bank account to zero. The fraud is directly linked to the 2024 blackout crisis.
Mazar, the critical reservoir feeding Ecuador's largest hydroelectric complex, has fallen to just 22 meters above its operational minimum. With the dry season outlook uncertain, the specter of the 2024 blackouts -- when Ecuadorians lived through 14-hour daily power cuts -- is back on the table.
