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Brazilian cities black out due to power failure
by Ishita Sood - November 11, 2009 - comments
A major power failure in Brazil left its two largest cities--Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro--into darkness on Tuesday night
Sao Pualo, November 11 -- A glitch in the world’s largest hydroelectric dam, Itaipu, plunged Brazil’s two big cities, Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro, into darkness Tuesday night.
The blackout hit at 10:20 p.m. local time and knocked out electricity not only in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but also in Brasília, Espirito Santo, and Mato Grosso do Sul.
Major airports in Rio and Sao Paulo had to be shut down.
Itaipu is located between the borders of Brazil and Paraguay, and was shut-down for the first time since it went online in 1983.
An estimated 50 million people (which equals roughly one quarter of Brazil's population) were affected.
The police in Sao Paulo and Rio advised residents to avoid the risk of traffic. The only light that came in the dark was from a few buildings like hospitals, which had their own generators.
Daily life disrupted
Daily life was highly disrupted due to the power failure. It was difficult to get taxis in the dark which left many passengers marooned. People said they also were very cautious of robbers taking advantage in the dark.
According to the National Electric System Operator, the blackout occurred because 17,000 megawatts dropped out of the national electricity grid.
The Energy Minister Edson Lobao confirmed that the problem originated with the Itaipu plant. There was a "complete paralysis" of that facility, the exact cause of which was still unknown, said Lobao.
He also believed that the "atmospheric problems" could be blamed; perhaps a high altitude storm with lightning hit one of the plant's five high tension lines.
However the head of Itaipu, Jorge Sanek, said there was "no generation problem, the problem was with the transmission" of electricity.
Were cyber hackers behind the blackout?
Lobao said yesterday’s shouldn’t perk up fears of the 2001 draught energy crisis in which Brazilian Govt. was forced to slow down economic growth.
The blackout occurred just two days after U.S. network CBS reported that previous cuts in 2005 and 2007 were caused by cyber hackers.
Even though the Brazilian media was unconvinced, the U.S. network said that these incidents should be taken as a lesson.
Lobao, on the other hand, just said that the disruption will be investigated scrupulously.
He intends to meet President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva early Wednesday in view of the shutdown.