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On Tuesday of this week, more than 90% of the population was left without electricity. While President Gabriel Boric described the event as “outrageous,” the electrical unions have requested greater supervision and improvements in the infrastructure to avoid future incidents. The massive power outage in Chile on Tuesday, February 25 affected 14 of the countrys 16 regions, with more than 90% of the population without power. The preliminary cause was a failure in the Nueva Maitencillo-Nueva Pan de Azúcar transmission line , operated by ISA Interchile, which triggered a chain reaction in the national electrical system. The government declared a state of emergency and a curfew in the affected areas, while work was being done to restore service. According to the National Electric Coordinator, 90% of households had already had electricity restored by the early hours of February 26. The investigation into the exact causes of the blackout will take 15 days. From the government, President Gabriel Boric described the event as outrageous and assured that technical and operational responsibilities would be investigated. The Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, for her part, ruled out an attack on the electrical system and said that it was an internal failure. The blackout also caused significant disruptions to essential services such as public transport, telecommunications and commercial activities across the country. Authorities continue to assess the economic and social impacts of the event. There was also criticism of the companies involved, particularly ISA Interchile, which attributed the incident to an unwanted activation of protection schemes. While investigations continue, the electricity unions agree that it is necessary to review operating standards and improve infrastructure to prevent similar failures in the future. Reaction of the electrical unions The electricity unions have requested greater supervision and improvements in infrastructure to avoid future incidents. Representatives of the renewable sector, for their part, stressed the need to further diversify the energy matrix to increase the resilience of the system. The Association of Electrical Customers (Acenor) stressed that both the transmission systems and the service recovery plans failed. It requested an exhaustive investigation to determine the responsibilities of the transmission and generating companies and the National Electric Coordinator. It also emphasized the need to strengthen the electrical system to avoid future incidents. According to Acera (Chilean Association of Renewable Energy and Storage), “Although we need more information, it is possible to note that the undesirable consequences of this incident were not only due to an initial transmission failure, but also to the insufficient capacity of the system to respond effectively to the loss of a relevant percentage of total generation (in this case it was 16%), which shows a structural problem in terms of the propagation of a fault that, although 1,800 MW, left the entire electrical demand of the system without supply, which must be addressed urgently.” “Regardless of the results of the investigation, it is essential to move forward in strengthening the electrical system through investments in energy transmission and storage infrastructure,” the association added. For its part, Generators of Chile stressed the importance of ensuring the reliability of the electricity supply and advocated that “the investigation carried out clarifies the facts, is focused on an exhaustive analysis of what happened, objectively identifies the causes, the quality of the information, coordination and regulation of the electrical system.” |
