Various regions of Brazil ed electrical power outages this morning Tuesday (15). Reports about the “blackout” started around 8:30 am and most of concentrated in cities in the North and Northeast regions. The Federal District (DF) was also affected.
Em Fortaleza (CE) e Teresina (PI), for example, traffic lights were turned off and caused traffic jams. In the state of Piauí, there were even reports of people being trapped in elevators.
Em Salvador BA), there were impacts on Metro circulation, with trains being stopped after a failure in the electricity system. In São Paulo (SP), the same problem was observed, with reports of delays on the Yellow Metro Line.
Already in Santa Catarina (SC), at around 9 am, at least 593 thousand consumer units were without power. In neighborhoods of Belo Horizonte (BH), there was also a lack of electricity, as in other regions of the country. It is estimated that at least 15 states have been affected.
What happened?
In a note, the ONS (National Electrical System Operator) reported that one occurrence in the operating network of the without (National Interconnected System) interrupted 16 thousand MW of load in states in the North and Northeast of Brazil. States in the Southeast were also affected, according to the agency.
“A The interruption occurred due to the opening, at 8:31 am, of the North/Southeast interconnection. The causes of the incident are still being investigated. The restoration has already started in all regions and by 9:16 am, 6 thousand MW had already been restored”, said the Operator.
Sandoval Feitosa, general director of ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) clarified that the situation is being monitored by the competent bodies and companies that serve the affected regions.
“We are having a supply problem in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil. The Ministry of Mines and Energy, the National Electric System Operator, the ANEEL and the companies involved are currently monitoring and taking all necessary measures to quickly restore the system,” he said.
“The Ministry of Mines and Energy informed the Agency and other agents that it will establish a group to analyze and study the causes of this event […]. As soon as we have more information, we will communicate together with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and ONS the measures that are being taken, as well as the procedures and measures for the service to be reestablished”, he added.
An answer
It is important that the disconnection occurred.
It means that our protection system is efficient.
Separation and the consequent reduction in supply are known episodes in a transmission system the size of SIN (National Integrated System).
Occurrences like these have already occurred in several other circumstances.
When it was reported that there was an “overload/”, I found it curious for the following reasons: 1) it was not peak time; 2) when there are overloads, the system is gradually relieved (in technical English “load shedding”) and there is no consequence like this.
Apparently the situation that occurred has nothing to do with overload or problems with the privatization of ELETROBRAS.
And it was such a remediable occurrence that the entire system was reestablished in a short time.
Congratulations to the ONS and concessionaires involved in the case.