A new blackout may have occurred in Amapá with the ‘energization’ of the transmission line, says ONS | Amapá

However, energization, which is the moment when electricity begins to pass through a line, would not, in principle, have been the cause of the outage.

The cause of the new blackout is still being investigated.

• Blackout in Amapá: understand the causes and consequences of the lack of power in the state

In note, ONS informs that energizing the Santa Rita – Equatorial line may have resulted in a sequence of stops of a transformer for the Macapá substation and the Coaracy Nunes hydroelectric plant, which generated the blackout (read below).

The National System Operator also informs in the document that The normalization of the supply occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, at 1:04 am.

This normalization, however, does not mean the end of electrical restrictions in the state. In a note released this Wednesday, the Ministry of Mines and Energy reported that the power supply in Amapá “It is at the level of 80% of its capacity, the same scenario presented before the event”, that is, before that second blackout.

According to ONS, the power failure occurred after 8:27 pm Tuesday and the delay in resetting was due to “a sequence of events.”

• at 8:27 pm there was an automatic shutdown of the transformer of the Macapá substation and the Coaracy Nunes hydroelectric plant;
• the closure caused an interruption of 183 MW of load in the state of Amapá;
• at 8:15 pm, the process of rebuilding the power supply began gradually;
• at 9:03 pm, there was a new closure of the Macapá substation;
• at 9:10 pm, a new attempt was made to resume loading;
• at 9:20 pm, the transformer has been switched off for the third time;
• at 9:36 pm, a new load resumption started;
• at 1:04 am on Wednesday, the load in the state has been normalized.

“ONS identified that the disconnections may have been caused at the time of energizing the Santa Rita – Equatorial transmission line, at 69 KV. The line remains disconnected until CEA, the local distributor, carries out an evaluation. ONS continues to monitor the situation in the State, ”the note concludes.

The population of Amapá has been experiencing power supply difficulties since November 3, when a fire in a substation caused the first blackout that affected 13 of the 16 cities in the state.

On November 8, a rotation system began operating in Amapá, in which each part of the state had access to electricity during some hours of the day. Last week the federal government announced aid for the rental of generators that would strengthen the electricity supply until the problem was solved.

With the crisis, the state capital and rural cities have registered protests. In addition, the problem led the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to postpone municipal elections in Macapá.

The precarious energy supply still affects approximately 90% of the population of Amapá.