| Work Detail |
It analyzes the causes of the failure and the behavior of the various facilities of the National Electric System during the event. The study reveals that the failure spread due to a lack of reporting or authorization for intervention. Chiles National Electricity Coordinator has submitted a report to the Superintendency of Electricity and Fuel (SEC) on the power outage that affected a large part of the country on February 25 , causing significant repercussions among industry stakeholders . The document, known as the Failure Analysis Study (FAS), includes the background on the origin, propagation, and implementation of the Service Recovery Plan. The report, which is nearly 400 pages long, analyzes the causes of the failure and the behavior of the various facilities of the National Electric System during the event. According to the document, the failure began with a problem in the communications module of a protection function on the Nueva Maitencillo-Nueva Pan de Azúcar Line, operated by Interchile. Although the backup system was functioning, the restart of the module without warning or authorization from the National Electric Coordinator caused the line to be completely disconnected. The study reveals that the fault spread due to a lack of reporting or authorization for intervention, which prevented the National Electricity Coordinator from taking operational measures to minimize risks. The system was divided into two electrical islands, one in the north and one in the center-south, which could not maintain stability, resulting in a total blackout of the National Electricity System. The report identifies deficiencies in the response of mitigation resources, including automatic consumption and generation disconnection schemes, as well as the performance of some generating plants during the event. Furthermore, it mentions failures in the SCADA and communications systems of Transelec and other companies, which hampered the implementation of the Service Recovery Plan. The National Electricity Coordinator has announced that this report will be supplemented with additional studies and audits. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in the United States will review the document and develop proposals for improvements, while a group of Chilean academics will verify the causes of the fault propagation. In addition, audits will be conducted at Interchile and Transelec to review their control and protection systems. |
