Massive Blackout Hits Brazil. Sí£o Paulo, Rio, 5 Other States in the Dark

Blackout in Sã Paulo A massive blackout has hit Brazil this Tuesday night, November 10, around 10:15 pm, after hydroelectric Itaipu, the biggest one in the world, malfunctioned stopping the transmission of 17,000 megawatts of power to Brazilian and Paraguayan users. 

The problem affected the metropolitan area of São Paulo, the most populated area of the country as well as the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Espí­rito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso and Goiás, in southeastern and Midwestern Brazil.

According to  information from CBN radio, Brazil's Mines and Energy Ministry was informed about the power cut and was trying to find how and why it happened.

Rio de Janeiro had heavy traffic jams at Linha Amarela and Avenida Brasil, among other arteries, due to the lack of working traffic lights. Resident were also unable to use electric appliance and TV sets, refrigerators and air conditionings stop working.

In the aftermath of the blackout energy companies didn't have any explanation for the power snafu. Several Internet sites, including some news sites went off the air.

Eletropaulo, the São Paulo power distributor with about 6 million customers, noted that the power failure "was a national problem that is being taken care of".

In Itaipu, one of the directors of the Itaipu complex said the trouble could have been the result of an error made by people inside the hydroelectric plant.

Brazil's Aneel, the National Agency of Electric power informed that it didn't know the cause of the problem and that it would announce its position as soon as it got official information.

In São Paulo, the Traffic Engineering Company (CET) told reporters that it had its hands full trying to organize the traffic in the city since traffic lights were not  working. The Metro (subway) and the São Paulo Trains company stopped working, halted in their tracks.

According to Brazil's Minister of Mines and Energy, Edison Lobão, the most likely cause for the blackout was a heavy storm, which triggered the total shutting off of Itaipu.

The sudden reduction in energy then caused, in a domino effect, the shutdown of other lines connected to Brazil's National Integrated System for distribution of power.

Lobão informed that technicians had promised energy supply would go back to normal in a few hours, but he didn't expect to know the real cause of the blackout before Wednesday.

The president of Itaipu, Jorge Samek, said at the end of the day that he was 99% sure that a storm with heavy winds had been the cause for the blackout. Said he:

"In Foz do Iguaçu we had today heavy rains that knocked down trees of 40, 50 years, as if they were beach parasols." Itaipu, he explained, is responsible for 20% of Brazil's energy making it hard for other power plants to compensate when a shutdown like this occurs.

Tags:

You May Also Like

Cosmetic Market Keeps Growing in Brazil. Only Japan and US Are Ahead

Brazilians take beauty very seriously. Figures supplied by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography ...

More Civilians Murdered in Brazil in One Year than in Iraq After 3 Years of War

About 45,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the invasion of their country by ...

In Brazil, a Husband Can Never Be a Rapist

A study entitled "The Brazilian Women in the Public and Private Spheres" drawn up ...

Portugal Group Invests US$ 43 Million in Brazil’s Northeast Resort

Vila Galé, a group from Portugal, has launched the construction of a five-star resort ...

All Indications Are That Brazil President Will Veto Forestry Law Pushed by Farm Lobby

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff’s top administrative aide, Gilberto Carvalho, made it clear that the ...

Gol Brazilian Airline Creates Post of Vice President of Management and Personnel

Brazilian Airline Gol announced the creation of a new position in the company, Vice ...

Ethanol and gasoline station in Brazil

Brazil’s Ethanol to Quench 10% of World’s Thirst for Gasoline

Brazil, India, China, the United States and the European Union have created a forum ...

FIFA Complains About Brazil’s Crime, Lack of Hotels, Buses and Good Airports

Jerome Valcke, FIFA’s general secretary, has warned Brazil of the increasing crime rate in ...

The author's corner in Itacaré, Bahia, Brazil

Life Is a Daily Adventure for This Gringo in Bahia, Brazil

When I catch myself whining about the rain or all the work to do ...

One-Note Thought

I heard more than I saw, I bended my knees and almost on all ...