Unexpected power outages battered Ecuador at the end of September, with blackouts lasting up to 12 hours a day.
Ecuador’s National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA) estimates that if the outages continue, economic losses to the nation’s shrimp sector could exceed USD 5 million (EUR 4.5 million) per day.
In mid-September, government authorities in the country warned that due to grid shortages, power would be cut throughout the country for up to eight hours per day. Adverse weather conditions have particularly affected areas where the country’s dams are located, according to Ecuador Energy Minister Antonio Goncalves.
This is a massive problem for the country because, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA), hydropower comprises nearly 60 percent of the energy Ecuador generates.
“The important issue is that the climate is crazy; it has changed a lot,” Goncalves said, according to Reuters. “We depend a lot on hydrology. I can't predict something that only God knows.”
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said at the recent United Nations General Assembly that Ecuador is going through its worst drought in 61 years, affecting those dams upon which the country depends for power generation.
“It's chaos and much worse than expected,” he said.
Electric companies are now announcing that planned cuts will go through Sunday, 29 September; initially, the cuts were planned to run through 26 September, Reuters reported.
“If this scenario continues, the [shrimp] sector could accumulate losses of tens of millions in a few weeks, compromising not only exports but also the domestic production of inputs and the survival of shrimp in pools that depend on electrical systems,” the CNA said in a release.
What makes the outages particularly devastating for the shrimp sector is that they ...
