Blackout hits 9 states and the Federal District after fire at substation in Paraná

A power outage hit nine states and the Federal District in the early hours of Tuesday (14), affecting thousands of consumers across the country. The power outage occurred in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, Bahia, Amazonas, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, Goiás, Rio Grande do Norte, and the federal capital and surrounding areas.

The power outage occurred around 12:30 a.m. and lasted a few minutes, but full restoration took about two hours. The National Electric System Operator (ONS) and the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) confirmed the power outage and are expected to hold assessment meetings throughout the day.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) stated that the shutdown of part of the National Interconnected System (SIN) occurred after a fire in a reactor at a power substation in Bateias, a district of the municipality of Campo Largo, Paraná. The entire structure had to be shut down, which affected the transmission grid.

"The incident began with a fire in a reactor at the Bateias Substation (Paraná) that shut down the entire 500 kV substation, disconnecting the South and Southeast/Central-West regions, causing severe contingency," said the MME in a statement (see in full below).

The ONS stated that the fire at the Bateiras substation "caused the interruption of around 10,000 MW of load, affecting the four subsystems: South, Southeast/Central-West, Northeast and North".

"As soon as the situation was identified, the ONS began joint action with the agents to restore power to the regions. The return of the equipment and the restoration of the loads occurred safely, in the first few minutes," it added in a note (see the full text below).

The ministry also reported that the power supply restoration was controlled in the first few minutes, with power supply to the North, Northeast, Southeast, and Central-West regions returning to normal at 1:30 a.m. Power transmission in the South was restored at 2:30 a.m.

According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the time taken to fully restore power transmission during this outage was shorter than on previous occasions. A meeting with key stakeholders will be held this morning to determine the causes of the fire at the Bateias substation in Paraná.

"The damage was isolated to an Eletrobras substation. [...] We no longer have energy insecurity, but rather a one-off incident to which the ONS responded promptly," Minister Alexandre Silveira said in an interview with EBC . He also emphasized that there was no power outage, but rather just an incident in the "infrastructure that transmits energy."

On the other hand, the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) reported that it sent letters to the companies involved to demand explanations about the interruption in the energy supply.

"The Agency's inspection team will travel today to carry out an on-site inspection of the affected substation and determine the causes of the interruption. Furthermore, inspection procedures will be initiated to determine the responsibility of the agents involved," it said in a statement (see the full text below).

Copel, the electricity company responsible for distribution in Paraná, has not yet commented.

Blackouts in Brazil

The country has experienced several major blackouts in recent years. In 1999, a substation failure in Bauru, São Paulo, left approximately 60 million people without power in 10 states, as well as the Federal District and Paraguay. Three years later, in 2002, a cable rupture on the transmission line between the Ilha Solteira and Araraquara power plants caused another blackout that affected the country's Center-South region, leaving ten states and the Federal District in the dark.

In 2009, a new failure in the high-voltage power lines connecting Itaipu to Itaberá (SP) and Ivaiporã (PR) caused one of the largest blackouts in history, affecting 18 Brazilian states and Paraguay. At the time, adverse weather conditions in São Paulo affected transmission.

In 2011, a substation failure on the border between Bahia and Pernambuco left much of the Northeast region in the dark, affecting approximately 47 million people. The following year, a technical problem at the Itumbiara hydroelectric plant in Goiás affected six states. In 2014, 12 million people were left without power in states in the South, Southeast, North, and Central-West regions.

In 2018, a failure at the Xingu substation in Pará, which distributes part of the energy produced by the Belo Monte Dam, left 70 million people without electricity in states in the North and Northeast. In 2020, a transformer explosion disrupted power throughout the state of Amapá, which suffered a prolonged blackout lasting more than 20 days.

See below the full statement from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) about the early morning blackout:

At 00:32 a major disturbance occurred in the National Interconnected System, with the shutdown of approximately 10,000 MW of loads, in a controlled manner (through the action of the Regional Load Relief Scheme - ERAC).

The incident began with a fire in a reactor at the Bateias Substation (Paraná) that shut down the entire 500 kV substation, disconnecting the South and Southeast/Central-West regions, causing severe contingency.

The equipment was returned and the loads were restored in a controlled manner within the first few minutes. By 1:30 a.m., all loads in the North, Northeast, Southeast, and Central-West regions had been restored. Loads in the South region were fully restored by approximately 2:30 a.m.

The total recovery time was shorter than the occurrences of this size that have already occurred in the SIN.

A preliminary meeting with the main agents involved is scheduled for today to identify the causes and the ONS must hold a preliminary Disturbance Analysis meeting to begin preparing the Disturbance Analysis Report - RAP by Friday, 10/17.

See the full ONS note on the early morning blackout:

The National Electric System Operator (ONS) confirms that this Tuesday, October 14, at 00:32, there was an incident in the National Interconnected System (SIN) that caused the interruption of approximately 10,000 MW of load, affecting the four subsystems: South, Southeast/Central-West, Northeast and North.

The incident began with a fire in a reactor at the Bateias Substation in Paraná, shutting down the entire 500 kV substation and leading to the opening of the interconnection between the two regions. At the time, the South region was exporting approximately 5,000 MW to the Southeast/Central-West.

In the South region, there was a loss of approximately 1,600 MW of load. In other regions, the Regional Load Relief Scheme (ERAC) was in operation. In the Northeast, the interruption was approximately 1,900 MW, in the North, 1,600 MW, and in the Southeast, 4,800 MW.

As soon as the situation was identified, the ONS (National Health System) initiated joint action with the authorities to restore power to the regions. The equipment was returned and the loads were restored safely within the first few minutes, and within 1 hour and 30 minutes, all loads in the North, Northeast, Southeast, and Central-West regions were restored. Loads in the South region were fully restored approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes after the incident.

A meeting with key stakeholders is scheduled for today. The ONS is also expected to hold a preliminary Disturbance Analysis meeting to begin preparing the Disturbance Analysis Report (RAP) by Friday, October 17th.

See what Aneel said about the inspection of those involved in the early morning blackout:

The National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) informs, regarding the occurrence of this Tuesday (14/10) at 00:32 that affected States in the South, Southeast, Central-West, North and Northeast Regions of the National Interconnected System (SIN), that it sent letters to the companies involved to demand explanations about the interruption in the energy supply.

The National System Operator (ONS) has preliminarily reported that the likely cause of the outage was a fire at the Bateias substation in Paraná. The Agency's inspection team will travel today to conduct an on-site inspection of the affected substation and determine the cause of the outage. Further inspection proceedings will be initiated to determine the liability of the agents involved.

It is important to inform, according to ONS data, that all loads in the North, Northeast, Southeast and Central-West regions were restored within 1h30 of the interruption and loads in the South region returned 2h30 after the occurrence.