The general manager of the Electric Corporation of Ecuador (CELEC EP) and the president in Ecuador of the Lowell mining company signed a letter of intent for the future supply of hydroelectricity to the Warintza mining project.

The Lowell company is a unit of the Canadian Solaris Resource, concessionaire of the Warintza mining project, located in the province of Morona-Santiago, for the extraction of copper. The project will require a great deal of electrical energy, CELEC EP said.

CELEC EP will carry out the studies to provide hydroelectric power through the National Transmission System (SNT). This initiative is part of the “Ecological Transition, Ecuador Carbon Zero” program, undertaken by the Ecuadorian Government.

General Manager Gonzalo Uquillas Vallejo highlighted that, as a strategic public company, CELEC EP works to comply with the guidelines of the President of the Republic Guillermo Lasso for the electrification of the oil, shrimp and mining industries. The signing of the letter of intent for the Warintza mining project is part of the business policy of seeking new business opportunities for CELEC EP.

Vallejo said that CELEC EP has the necessary installed capacity and is working on the conclusion of new generation projects to supply clean energy to industrial projects that will require a high consumption of electrical energy. One project the company is working to build is the 2.4 GW Santiago hydroelectric project on the Zamora River.

Federico Velásquez, president of Lowell, stressed that the Ecuadorian Government has had a positive attitude regarding the promotion of new foreign investments, which motivated the company’s progress in the mining projects. “We are going to maximize the potential efficiencies derived from this abundant, low-cost, renewable energy source for mobile mining equipment, including drills, trucks, and material transport,” he said.

CELEC EP has hydropower, thermal and other renewable facilities in its portfolio.