QUITO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Ecuador's military began supporting operations at a major dam on Tuesday, following a government decision to implement a series of eight-hour nightly power cuts across the Andean country next week, amid a severe drought which has caused water levels to plunge, affecting hydroelectric plants.

Ecuador is in the grip of a power crisis, which the government attributes to a lack of maintenance of existing dams and contracts to secure new power generation, as well as the country's worst drought in the last 61 years, according to the government.

Power cuts will begin on Monday Sept. 23 from 10:00 p.m. local time and will last until 6 a.m. the next day, the government said in a post on X. The measure will be repeated on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, it added.

It was not clear how many weeks the power cuts would be implemented for.

"The established cut-off schedule has been chosen with the purpose of generating the least possible impact on productive activities and the development of working days," the post said.

The measure is in addition to a scheduled power cut this Wednesday for preventive maintenance on all transmission facilities and distribution networks nationwide.

The government has taken several measures to face the crisis, the statement added, including commissioning a power ship, seeking to build permanent generators on land, and improving abandoned infrastructure, among others.

Ecuador needs an additional 1,000 megawatts - or one gigawatt - of power to cover national demand, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, Ecuadorean military said personnel entered the Mazar dam - which supplies some 170 megawatts of power and has a large storage capacity - to protect the plant and support its operation.

About 50 soldiers with technical knowledge will be trained in operating the country's hydroelectric system, the defense ministry said in a statement, without confirming how long soldiers will man the dams.

Some 46,000 police officers will be mobilized nationwide during the nighttime power cuts and there will be increased patrols in at risk areas, such as roads and prisons, the national police said.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ecuador-govt-orders-series-power-cuts-amid-severe-drought-2024-09-17/