- 2010 Chile blackout
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The March 2010 Chile blackout was an electric power outage that affected most of Chile on March 14, 2010. It began at 8:44 pm (23:44 GMT) on Sunday and continued into the next day. The power was restored in a few hours in some areas, and by midnight in most areas, except in the Biobío Region.[1]
The blackout was caused by a failure of a 500 kV transformer at a substation in southern Chile that is part of the Central Interconnected System (SIC). The affected transformer is located around 700 kilometres (430 mi) south of the capital, Santiago.[2] The SIC serves about 93% of the country's population, from Taltal in the north to the Chiloé Island in the south, including Santiago.[1] At one point Santiago was receiving only 8% of the electricity normally required.[2][3]
The blackout interrupted a music concert being held to raise funds for the survivors of the earthquake that had devastated the country two weeks earlier.[2] In addition, thousands of people had to be rescued from the Santiago Metro after 20 trains were immobilised and the telephone network was also affected.[2][4] The fire brigade had to free several people trapped in elevators.[5]
The blackout affected 90% of the population and electric service began to be restored after an hour.[2] Around 98% of people affected had service restored by March 15, 2010.[6] The blackout caused the share price of the Enersis mining group to fall by 1% to a three-month low, although loss of production was minimal there and at other mining companies in the country because of backup generators.[7][8]
President Sebastián Piñera blamed the power failure on the recent earthquake and said the SIC would remain unstable for a week.[9] Other officials stated that the outage was not directly related to the earthquake.[2] The energy minister, Ricardo Raineri, said that the electric transmission grid remains in a fragile state and asked Chileans to restrict their use of electricity.[2] Raineri stated that during the earthquake the "electricity network suffered various damages, be it in transformers, switches and others".[5]
An investigation is being carried out to determine if the failure was due to a lack of maintenance of the transformer.[6] Piñera vowed to get the transformer repaired within 48 hours of the blackout and to get affected transmission lines checked and repaired within seven days.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b CDEC-SIC Communicado. Retrieved 17 March 2010. (Spanish)
- ^ a b c d e f g "Chile plunged into darkness by power cut". BBC News. 15 March 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8567910.stm. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Vergara, Eva (15 March 2010). "Blackout leaves millions of Chileans in darkness". Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jgD1HWniMw6lzC8tOJyT_YnZc-vgD9EEQQN80. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ "Chile hit by massive blackout: emergency office". Agence France Presse. 15 March 2010. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jMgcf52UGrMhDzPJXbXJqp1QLvrw. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Chile expects six months of power 'fragility' after massive quake". Earth News. 15 March 2010. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/314197,chile-expects-six-months-of-power-fragility-after-massive-quake.html. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Chile's power supply normalized gradually after blackout". Xinhua. 16 March 2010. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/16/c_13211990.htm. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Attwood, James (15 March 2010). "Enersis Falls to Three-Month Low on Blackout Concern (Update1)". Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-15/enersis-falls-leading-chile-index-drop-on-blackout-concern.html. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Craze, Matt; Orihuela, Rodrigo (15 March 2010). "Chile Will Face Outages for a Week on Quake Damage, Pinera Says". Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-15/chile-will-face-outages-for-a-week-on-quake-damage-pinera-says.html. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ "Chile's Pinera: Power Grid To Be Unstable For A Week After Blackout". Dow Jones Newswires. 15 March 2010. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5oJ2FdOmZ. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
- ^ "UPDATE 1-Chile's power grid unstable for a week – president". Reuters. 15 March 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1519628320100315?type=marketsNews. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
Energy in Chile Companies Celulosa Arauco y Constitución · Colbún S.A. · Compañia General de Eletrecidad · Copec · Endesa · Geotérmia del Pacífico · Geotérmica del NortePower grids Sistema Eléctrico de Aysén · Sistema Eléctrico de Magallanes · Sistema Interconectado Central (Blackouts: March 2010 · September 2011) · Sistema Interconectado del Norte GrandePower plants GeothermalTolhuaca (planned)Antuco · Chivilingo (defunct) · Colbún · El Toro · HidroAysén (planned) · Pangue · Pehuenche · Pilmaiquén · Pullinque · RalcoThermalValdiviaGuacolda · VentanasAntilhue I · Antilhue IICategory:Energy in Chile Categories:- 2010 Chile earthquake
- Electric power in Chile
- Electric power blackouts
- 2010 in Chile
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