After Blackout, Electric Power Rotation Restored in Brazil´s Crisis-ridden Amapá State

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Eleven days after a transformer fire left 13 of Amapá’s 16 cities with no power, and on the very day of the first round of municipal elections – with the exception of the capital, Macapá, where the election was deferred for safety reasons – residents of 12 municipalities experienced a full day of uninterrupted supply.

According to the Amapá Electricity Company (CEA), the power supply worked in full all day on Sunday in 12 of the 13 cities affected. In Macapá, where for days the population has been subject to a rotation system, it operated at full capacity only from 7 AM to 12 noon.

Between 12 noon and 7 PM, 90 percent of the state capital was served with no major issues, but after this time rotation had to be restored due to increased demand. And the supply was partially interrupted again, according to the schedule announced earlier by the CEA.

According to the state-owned company, there were records of short local shortages in some locations throughout the day, but these were quickly resolved.

Despite the brief respite on Sunday, the rotation system in place since last Thursday, November 12th, has already been re-established in the 13 municipalities affected, and will continue to be adopted for an indefinite period of time.

Between 7 AM and 7 PM, supply is maintained for four hours, according to the schedule for neighborhoods announced by the CEA, in addition to three hours between 7:00 PM and 7:00 AM the following day.

The blackout that affected thousands of Amapá residents was caused by a fire in a transformer in the capital Macapá substation, which caused the automatic shutdown of the Laranjal/Macapá transmission lines and the Coaracy Nunes and Ferreira Gomes hydroelectric plants, which supply the region.

According to the National Electric System Operator (ONS), the transformer that caught fire belongs to the concession company Macapá Power Transmission Lines (LMTE), of the Gemini Energy group. As two other units were also damaged, reusing the parts for reconnecting the substation was impossible.

The day after the incident, the Ministry of Mines and Energy set up a task force to address the situation and Eletronorte, an Elebrobras subsidiary, undertook the emergency power supply. The Armed Forces were also mobilized to carry equipment and supplies to the state and assist the population.

Last Wednesday, November 11th, the Amapá Civil Police released the result of a preliminary report that points out that, contrary to what the LMTE reported, the fire at the Macapá substation transformer was not caused by lightning, but rather by overheating in a part of the equipment. On the same day, Civil Police officers served search warrants on the company’s premises, where they seized documents and conducted new investigations.

On Friday, November 13th, the 2nd Federal Civil Court of Amapá extended the deadline for the LMTE to fully restore the energy supply to the whole state, subject to a R$50 million fine. In a note disclosed on Sunday, the company announced that a new transformer should reach Macapá in the following days, and as soon as it is installed and begins to operate, it will allow the service to be normalized within a few days.

Source: Agência Brasil

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