QUITO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Electricity service was restored nationwide in Ecuador after an explosion early Tuesday at the Paute Molino substation in southern Azuay province caused outages in several provinces, Environment and Energy Minister Juan Carlos Blum said.
Blum confirmed the normalization of the system on X on Tuesday after technical work by the electricity sector. "We are working to strengthen the system and make it safe and reliable," the minister wrote.
The incident occurred at 2:07 a.m. local time (0707 GMT) at the Paute Molino substation, part of the Paute Hydroelectric Complex of the National Interconnected System, located in southern Ecuador.
The complex is Ecuador's largest hydroelectric system and supplies about 35 percent of national electricity demand.
Authorities have not yet detailed the cause of the failure or reported any additional damage.
