2024-07-22 12:20:07
Coca Codo Sinclair, Ecuador’s largest hydroelectric plant with a capacity of 1,500 megawatts, faces serious risks that could put it out of operation permanently. Located between the Amazonian provinces of Napo and Sucumbíos, it was inaugurated in December 2016 during the government of Rafael Correa.
Mostly financed by a loan from China, Coca Codo Sinclair was built by Sinohydro, a Chinese state-owned company, under the condition of its management. Although it could supply 25% of Ecuador’s electricity demand, its operation is affected by construction faults and natural hazards. The main problems include the accumulation of sediment upstream, which has caused multiple temporary stoppages. The sand trap, designed to filter these sediments, has shown deficiencies, requiring manual interventions and affecting the performance of the turbines. In addition, regressive erosion downstream threatens to erode the intake works, crucial to the operation of the hydroelectric plant.
Sediment accumulation has increased in frequency since 2019, with multiple operational shutdowns each year; regressive erosion, which began in February 2020, is advancing towards the intake works located 6.4 kilometers from the original structure; construction flaws, such as the 7,600 cracks detected in the water distributors, compromise the structural and operational integrity of Coca Codo Sinclair. These deficiencies have led to legal claims by Corporación Eléctrica de Ecuador (CELEC) against Sinohydro, exacerbating the vulnerability of the hydroelectric plant in the midst of a national electricity crisis.
The challenges facing Coca Codo Sinclair underscore the fragility of its infrastructure in the face of natural factors and construction errors, and resolving these issues will be crucial not only to its continued operation, but also to Ecuador’s energy stability in the near future.