The Government expressed concern about the drastic reduction in flow in the ‘Fueguino Gasduct’, which directly impacts the generation of energy in the three cities of the province while going through a polar wave with extreme temperatures.
They attribute this situation to the sharp drop in gas production by companies operating in Tierra del Fuego, especially YPF. In fact, the pressure of the gas flow injected into the Fueguino Gasduct registered a drastic drop of 71% in the last week.
In that sense, the Minister of Energy of the province, Alejandro Aguirre, maintained that it is “a very complex situation” due “on the one hand, to the increase in consumption due to the polar wave that the region is experiencing, but also due to the drop in the supply of gas by the operating companies.”
“At the Ushuaia plant we are currently not having problems with the equipment but with the gas pressure that enters for electricity generation,” said the official and explained that “we usually receive 29 bar of pressure which makes the system work normally. but in the last few hours it has reached less than 22 bar.”
Aguirre maintained that in this situation “we are at risk since the alarms begin to sound in the plant, because with less than 20 bar, the Rolls Royce turbine stops its production immediately.”
The Minister emphasized the “disinvestment that has occurred by the YPF company,” mentioning “the decline that its operations have recorded in all the provinces where ‘non-strategic deposits’ as they are called or ‘non-conventional’ operate, because “All guns were aimed at Vaca Muerta.”
“This has generated a process of disinvestment in Tierra del Fuego, which today is clearly reflected in the fact that gas production has decreased greatly,” he added.
Furthermore, Aguirre ruled out receiving financing from the National Government for the implementation of energy works for the modernization and expansion of the energy generation system, ensuring that “obviously there is a political issue of not releasing financing to Tierra del Fuego and this is clear”.
“There is no communication with the Ministry of Energy of any kind, while until last December it was fluid, but today this no longer happens,” he lamented.
