[Politics] The three departments with risks of power cuts due to blockades to El Guavio

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The firm XM, operator of the country's electricity market, warned that, given the unavailability of 4 of the 5 generation units of the El Guavio hydroelectric plant, as of midnight this Wednesday, and despite the fact that its reservoir is almost At its maximum capacity, the plant could serve only 3 percent of the national daily demand, compared to 14 percent under normal conditions.

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The package of works to overcome the blockades to the Guavio hydroelectric plant
Given this situation, there is a probability that specific power cuts will have to be scheduled in the coming days in areas of the departments of Cundinamarca, Meta and Guaviare.

“Given the importance of the El Guavio Hydroelectric Power Plant to meet the country's energy demand in a reliable and safe manner, mainly in the departments of Cundinamarca, Meta and Guaviare; If the unavailability of the El Guavio generation units is added to that of other generation companies in the Eastern area or failures in transmission assets in the area, it is likely that specific power outages will have to be scheduled in said departments to mitigate risks in the operation of the system," warned Carlos Andrés Cano Isaza, Manager (E) of the XM National Dispatch Center.

(Also read: El Guavio and messes in other plants that put electricity supply at risk).

And it is that according to the electricity market operator, El Guavio is one of the resources with the greatest capacity for the provision of the secondary control service of frequency regulation for the entire Colombian electricity system.

In other words, it can rapidly inject generation into the system to compensate for increases and decreases in electricity consumption. Additionally, El Guavio is also required to guarantee the required voltage levels in the Eastern area and support other areas of the system in said control, as is the case of the northeast area (Santander, Norte de Santander and Boyacá), supporting this network in normal state of operation and in case of contingencies.

(Read on: Fitch warns about idea of intervening in energy rates).

“XM, the institutions of the sector and the market agents continue to work in an articulated manner so that this contingency does not affect the final consumer and the country's energy demand can be met in a safe, reliable manner and with the least possible impact on rates. ”, stressed the company.

https://www.eltiempo.com/economia/sectores/el-guavio-departamentos-en-riesgo-de-cortes-de-energia-por-bloqueos-702497