Small hydro in Ecuador: Potential and prospects

Ecuador has more rivers per square kilometre than any other country in the world and therefore it has a lot of potential for hydropower. However, until a decade ago, the country relied on oil and its by-products for energy generation. Today, 93 per cent of electricity comes from clean renewable hydropower. Ecuador’s plan is to reach self-sufficiency through clean energy production, and potentially to export energy to neighbouring countries. Ecuador is one of the countries studied as part of the EU-supported HYPOSO programme (see more details at the end of the article). This article is based on a paper presented in a session on HYPOSO, during HYDRO 2020.