Ecuador and Colombia: the reasons for a double water and energy crisis

Overview of the multiple reasons for this water and energy crisis.

1. An abnormally hot climate

Over the past decades, global warming and population growth have reduced water availability in Colombia and Ecuador, which have energy mixes that are very dependent on precipitation: respectively 70% and 92% of their electricity is produced thanks to hydroelectric plants, according to the Energy Ministries of the two countries. Their share of photovoltaics and wind power is respectively 5% and less than 1%.

The cyclical climatic phenomenon El Niño, particularly powerful this year, has amplified the rise in temperatures in the region and Ecuador has experienced an “abnormally dry” period in recent months, according to its climate agency. A strong deficit of precipitation hit the Azuay region (south), where the Mazar and Paute reservoirs are located, providing 38% of the country's electricity.

In Colombia, the drought has accentuated the outbreak of fires which have ravaged several dozen hectares of vegetation since January, including in the Amazon part, a region that is usually very humid. In Bogota, ten million residents have been subject to water rationing since April 11.

2. Reservoirs in the red

In Colombia, water reserves supplying the energy system have reached historic lows, filled to only 30% of their capacity. The El Peñol reservoir (northwest), the largest in the country, has even reached a critical threshold of 25%.

Thermoelectric power stations (gas and coal) then had to operate at full capacity to supply the population. The reserves filled during the rainy season and the park "in very good condition" made it possible to avoid electricity rationing, explains Ismael Suescun, engineer and retired professor from the University of Antioquia.

On the other hand, in Ecuador, where the Mazar dam was dry in mid-April, energy rationing was decreed, a few days before a popular consultation which decided to toughen the laws against drug trafficking.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa denounced "sabotage", implying that the Mazar dam had been intentionally emptied, but images provided by the satellite company Planet to AFP instead show a continued decline in water levels. dam water between January and April rather than a sudden drop.

Furthermore, Colombia had to resolve in mid-April to stop its electricity exports to Ecuador, aggravating the crisis in its neighbor, which ordered daily power cuts of up to 13 hours.

But on Monday, thanks to the rains returning, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on his X account that his country was "about to start selling energy to Ecuador again", Colombian reservoirs were filling up again .

3. Aging infrastructure

For Jorge Luis Hidalgo, energy consultant, the Ecuadorian crisis has an "original sin": mining companies and other large businesses benefit from tariffs almost ten times lower than the price paid by the State for imports from Colombia.

The money entering the country is therefore insufficient to develop infrastructure and ensure “maintenance and operations”. This is a system that leaves no “return on investment”, he continues.

On the Colombian side, infrastructure has not been developed at the rate of population growth. Mr. Petro was notably criticized after having renounced, for environmental reasons, the construction of a new reservoir when he was mayor of Bogota (2012-2015).

He defended his decision and blamed the current shortage on "the great urbanization process and the unsustainable increase in water demand."