After more than 72 hours without the supply of natural gas service in the Eje Cafetero region and in the department of Valle del Cauca due to thermal anomalies presented in the gas pipeline of the Transportadora de Gas Internacional (TGI), in the vicinity of the Cerro Bravo sector, the hydrocarbon was gradually reestablished in the region.
This was announced by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez, who assured that damage to the pipeline of the TGI company was ruled out and that, in addition, the construction of a flexible pipeline will be advancedas a backup strategy, in order to avoid future problems in the area near the Cerro Bravo volcano.
“What was established yesterday in the PMU that we had directly in Cerro Bravo is that the main tube was not affected by the phenomenon of thermal anomaly. That is to say, some shafts were made, which are like excavations in the pipe and, in all the pieces where the excavation was made, it was confirmed that there was integrity of the main pipe. This means that, after this verification, what the TGI company decides is to re-send the gas through the main pipeline,” said Vélez.
Has the gas service returned to Valle del Cauca yet?
According to the public services company Efigas, around 10:00 in the morning the municipality of Neira, Caldas, had already reestablished the hydrocarbon supply.while the reconnection work continued in Armenia, Chinchiná, Manizales, Palestina, Pereira, Santa Rosa, Tebaida and Villamaría.
In contrast, in Valle del Cauca the gas service has already been reestablished in the commercial and residential sectors of the city, as well as in the rest of the municipalities of the department.. For now, the authorities recommend slowly opening the valves of the measurement center and the internal network, as well as opening the knob of one of the gas appliances and letting the gas out for a few seconds, in order to purge the pipeline.
