Mystery power outage affects all Brazilian states but one

Electric power lines coming out from a substation in Paraná State, Brazil. Photo: Jose Luis Stephens/ Shutterstock

A blackout this Tuesday at 8:31 am affected all Brazilian states except Roraima, which is disconnected from the national energy system. The National System Operator (ONS) has not yet disclosed the cause of the problem. By late morning, power had been restored to most locations.

The power cut affected 25 percent of the system load – which means 16,000 MW.

Subways in the southeastern states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, and in the northeastern state of Bahia were impacted, and people had to get off trains during the power cut. Traffic lights were turned off in northern capitals, and there are reports of schools suspending classes and closing stores in several places.

Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira created a situation room to investigate what happened. He was in Paraguay accompanying President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the inauguration of Santiago Peña. He returned to the country when he was informed of the problem.

The National Electric Energy Agency director Sandoval Feitosa said the blackout was a “major event.” José Marengo, the coordinator of the National Center for Monitoring and Natural Disaster Alerts, told news website G1 that the cause of the blackout must be operational, as no drought alert could impact energy production and distribution.

“The causes of the occurrence are still being investigated. The recomposition has already started in all regions, and by 9:16 am, 6,000 MW have already been recomposed”, informed the ONS early this morning.

Roraima was the only one to escape the blackout because the state is supplied by local thermoelectric plants, powered by diesel. Until 2019, most of the region’s supply came from Venezuela. The agreement was interrupted after problems in the system and was never resumed due to the poor relationship between the government of Nicolás Maduro and former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The Lula administration said that it wants to negotiate with the neighboring country.

Amanda Audi

Amanda Audi is a journalist specializing in politics and human rights. She is the former executive director of Congresso em Foco and worked as a reporter for The Intercept Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, Gazeta do Povo, Poder360, among others. In 2019, she won the Comunique-se Award for best-written media reporter and won the Mulher Imprensa award for web journalism in 2020