The Ecuadorian government assured that the electric system is capable of «autonomously covering the daily energy demand, even in the event of the unavailability of imports from Colombia», after that country announced it would suspend supply from 6:00 p.m. local time (11:00 p.m. GMT) this Thursday. «Under normal operating conditions, the Ecuadorian electric system has sufficient capacity to autonomously cover the daily energy demand, even in the event of the unavailability of energy imports from Colombia,» detailed a communiqué from the Ministry of Environment and Energy. «To date, the National Interconnected System has a real availability of 5,454 megawatts, which allows it to meet the national demand with its own generation, maintaining adequate operational margins and stability in the electricity supply,» added the state ministry. Colombia decided to suspend the sale of energy to Ecuador in response to the imposition of a «security fee» of 30% announced without prior notice on Wednesday by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, due to the supposed inaction of Bogotá in the fight against drug trafficking. Colombia's Minister of Mines and Energy, Edwin Palma, indicated that his country had historically been supportive of the Ecuadorian people, «even in moments of energy shortages and adverse climatic conditions,» but pointed out that recent decisions by Noboa's government «ignore existing agreements and directly affect the interests of the Colombian people, forcing the State to act in defense of its energy sovereignty». «Last year, even going through a severe drought, Colombia was supportive of Ecuador and guaranteed energy when its population was facing blackouts of up to 14 hours. Today, in the face of arbitrary and unilateral decisions, we must act firmly to defend the dignity and sovereignty of our country,» he stated. Ecuador indicated that the current electricity demand is supplied 64.4% with renewable energy, 30.8% with thermal generation, as a strategic backup for the system; and only 4.8% through energy imports from Colombia. A scheme that, it said, «responds to technical criteria for system security and reliability, especially considering that Colombia has limitations in its transmission system, which reinforces the importance of national energy self-sufficiency». Additionally, it noted that the energy stored in the main reservoirs reaches 790.7 gigawatt-hours, and that the water level in the Mazar, the second largest and the main one for the country's energy system, is at 2,144 meters above sea level, «with a stable trend, which significantly strengthens the hydroelectric backup of the system». In addition to suspending the sale of energy, Colombia announced that it will apply a 30% tariff on the import of 20 products from Ecuador. In «reciprocity» to the first decision, Minister of Environment and Energy, Inés Manzano, also announced earlier that there will be a modification in the tariff for the transport of Colombian crude oil that passes through the Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (OCP), one of the two large oil pipelines in Ecuador.
