Ecuador goes dark!
Imagine you're in your room with the AC on, enjoying snacks and watching cartoons. Suddenly, a power cut makes everything go dark!
Just imagining this sounds irritating, right? Recently, people in Ecuador have faced this problem. On 19th June 2024, the whole country lost power for several hours.
What caused the blackout?
Roberto Luque, Ecuador’s public works minister, said the nationwide blackout happened due to the failure of an energy transmission line.
He also said that not spending enough money to improve the country’s electricity system caused this crisis.
How did it affect the nation?
The power cut affected homes, educational institutes, hospitals, etc., and stopped the metro. Luckily, hospitals had backup power generators, which helped them function even during the blackout.
People were upset by the nationwide blackout, especially because it happened during hot weather, which made it even worse and messed up their day.
Thankfully, the power was back by Wednesday night, bringing relief to the citizens.
Problems with electricity generation in Ecuador.
Before the recent blackout, the country had electricity generation problems. In April 2024, the government ordered eight-hour power cuts to save electricity.
The country relies a lot on hydroelectric power but had a big drought this year, causing water shortages.
This affected the country's power generation, leading to an energy crisis and power cuts.
