Ecuador's Power Grid Has 27 Percent Of Transmission Transformers Past Useful Life

The explosion at the Molino substation reopened a larger concern about Ecuador's electricity system: the infrastructure that transports electricity is operating with aging equipment, overloads, and, in several cases, no backup.

The June 30 explosion happened on the 230-kilovolt bar at the Molino substation inside the Paute Integral Hydroelectric Complex, the country's main hydroelectric complex.

The incident left part of the system out of operation and caused outages for close to six hours in provinces of the Sierra, Coast, and Amazon.

Aging Equipment

After supply was restored, the environment and energy ministry ruled out scheduled outages.

But the deeper question is transmission resilience. Fernando Salinas said the electricity crisis is becoming systemic and is now present in the transmission system.

According to Salinas, when protection systems activated at Molino, the substation was automatically isolated along with close to 1,100 megawatts of generation from the Paute complex.

The 2023-2032 electricity master plan recognizes significant deterioration in the transmission infrastructure.

Twelve of the 45 power transformers operating in the 29 substations of the national transmission system have already exceeded their useful life. In other words, 27% of those units are operating beyond the time they were designed for.

Overloads And No Reserve

The aging equipment is not the only issue. Forty-three transformers are working above 70% of nominal capacity, a threshold that increases operating stress.

Some cases are more strained. The Totoras-ATT transformer has a load of 121.54%, while equipment in Dos Cerritos, Pascuales, and Manta also exceeds 100% of nominal capacity under certain system conditions.

Twelve strategic substations do not have a reserve transformer. The list includes Posorja, Baños, Puyo, Loja, Chone, Orellana, Tena, Mulaló, Manta, Montecristi, Tulcán, and Quevedo.

For residents, the key issue is not only generation. Ecuador's transmission network is part of the reliability picture too.