1965 - Hydro Power

By the late 1950s, the cost of using diesel generators to power HCJB’s broadcasts had skyrocketed. Technical staff began looking at building a hydroelectric plant by the Papallacta River to greatly reduce the cost of electricity.
Bob Wittig found a used hydroelectric generator in the U.S. for a near scrap metal price. Staff constructed a dam and a large pipe to send water 440 feet down to the turbine-generator. The 1.8 megawatt project at Papallacta was completed in 1965.