Ecuador Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in ecuador, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Electric Power and Renewable Energy
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Overview

Ecuador provides significant business opportunities in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. Electricity demand continues to increase, and Ecuador urgently needs to increase generation capacity and accelerate investments to meet demand.  Chronic underinvestment in the electricity sector has made Ecuador vulnerable to power disruptions. During a prolonged dry season in 2024, Ecuador’s over-reliance on hydropower (78 percent of total generation) resulted in daily blackouts of up to 14 hours, hurting economic activity. According to Ecuador’s Central Bank, power outages caused economic losses of about $2 billion in 2024. 

In 2024, Ecuador’s generation capacity was 9,255 megawatts (MW), of which 5,686 MW (61 percent) was renewable energy sources, and 3,569 MW (39 percent) was non-renewable energy sources (fossil fuels derived from oil and natural gas).  Ecuador’s renewable energy is comprised of hydro power (5,419 MW), biomass (1550 MW), wind (71 MW), photovoltaic (29 MW), and biogas (11 MW). Hydroelectric power plants are in three regions: coastal (2 provinces), Andes (9 provinces), and Amazon (4 provinces). Generation plants with non-renewable energy sources are in four regions: coastal, Andes, Amazon, and Galápagos. The lack of diversity in Ecuador’s energy mix is an opportunity for companies to add generation capacity through other sources, such as thermal and renewable energy. 

Domestic electricity production fell short of demand in 2024 due to long-term droughts, delays in bringing new generation projects online, and ongoing operational failures at the Chinese-built Coca Codo Sinclair (CCS) hydropower plant (Ecuador’s largest hydropower plant, accounting for 30 percent of its generation capacity). Ecuador’s state-owned electricity company, CELEC EP, imports electricity from neighboring Colombia. CELEC is also increasing diesel purchases from Petroecuador to power its thermal electric power plants. Ecuador had a peak demand of 5,110 MW in May 2025, and according to CENACE, electricity demand grows by 360 MW every year. Ecuador’s energy shortage could result in a recurrence of power outages, particularly in the dry season of September through December.

Ecuador has added minimal generation in recent years. In 2020, the Energy Ministry awarded two projects to the private sector: a 110MW wind farm (Villonaco), and a 200MW solar plant (El Aromo). In 2023, the Energy Ministry released tenders for a 500 MW renewable block (wind, biomass, solar), 400 MW Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCCP), and a Northeast Transmission System to supply the Ecuadorian oil system. From these tenders, only the Villonaco project has started construction as of August 2025. Additionally, the government has not finalized the El Aromo project, with required documents pending negotiations. In 2025, the Government of Ecuador announced plans to build additional hydropower plant capacity in the West where rainfall is plentiful to offset droughts in the East. The 254-MW Toachi Pilaton thermal plant (254 MW) came online in 2025, six years behind schedule.

Leading Sub-sectors 

  • Advanced gas turbine engine technologies 

  • Renewable energy generation and storage

  • Power, distribution, and specialty transformers

  • Quick set up power generation facilities

  • Liquified natural gas (LNG) and related equipment

  • Solar panels

  • Wind turbines

  • Motors

  • Industrial controls

  • Combine cycle gas turbines, steam, gas, and hydraulic turbines

  • Turbine generator sets

  • Sediment cleanup equipment

  • Steam boilers and mixed boilers

  • Spare parts

  • Water wheels and regulators 

  • Turbojets and turbo-propellers

  • Small modular nuclear reactors and related nuclear energy technologies
     

Opportunities

Ecuador provides business opportunities for electric generation given the electricity shortage and rising demand. Ecuador urgently needs to accelerate new investments in power generation capacity and diversify its electricity sources. The Energy Ministry announced plans to add 541 MW in thermal generation in 2025 including the rental of three barges (300 MW), Salitral project (100 MW), Quevedo project (50 MW), and Esmeralda’s project (91 MW). CELEC plans to reissue a 260MW power rental tender in 2025 as well.  CELEC also made repairs to restore 100MW from two thermal plants, Termogas Machala and Termoesmeraldas. 

In June 2025, Executive Decree 32 amended the Regulations for the Organic Law of the Electric Public Power Service (“LOSPEE”) to require high-voltage consumers to install power generation systems to cover their demand until December 18, 2026.  Surplus power may be sold to the country’s network, in accordance with regulations issued by the Electricity Regulation and Control Agency (ARCONEL). Private developers have experienced an increased demand for power generation projects for large private energy consumers. Ecuador plans to accelerate the procedures to import natural gas to supply the largest thermoelectric plant in Ecuador, Termogas Machala, which works at 50 percent capacity. Plans to increase imports of natural gas, creates commercial opportunities for U.S. exporters of liquified natural gas (LNG) and related equipment (e.g., import/regasification terminals, tanks, valves, pipelines, and specialty products).

The Energy Ministry and CELEC plan to issue tenders for additional power generation and for power rental solutions, as well as for enhancing the transmission and distribution networks. Future projects under consideration include hydro, solar, geothermal, nuclear, wind, and biomass. Significant opportunities exist for manufacturers of power generation, transformers, transmission and distribution equipment, as well as natural gas suppliers. Imports of electric power generation equipment benefit from the relative proximity of Ecuador to the United States. Ecuador plans to boost use of smart technologies to reduce power losses due to theft, which provides additional opportunities for U.S. suppliers. 

Ecuador is also exploring opportunities to add nuclear energy to its energy mix, though it has not allocated budgetary resources to this sector. Ecuador’s nuclear energy plan contemplates a 300 MW small modular reactor in the medium term and a 1 GW reactor in the long term. In May 2025, Ecuador became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The next step is to enact the legal framework to oversee and regulate nuclear energy. Only after the legal framework is in place could the Energy Ministry issue a public procurement for the first nuclear power plant in Ecuador. 

Resources

U.S. Embassy Commercial Specialist – Sofía Zárate, email:ZarateSC@state.gov