2009 Brazil and Paraguay blackout

Last updated
2009 Brazil and Paraguay blackout
Itaipu Dam.jpg
Itaipu Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric plant by energy generation and second-largest by installed capacity
Date10–20 November 2009 (2009-11-10 2009-11-20)
LocationMost of Brazil and Paraguay
Type Power outage
CauseMeteorological events

The 2009 Brazil and Paraguay blackout was a power outage that occurred throughout much of Brazil and for a short time the entirety of Paraguay, [1] [2] [3] on Tuesday, November 10, to Friday, 20 November, 2009, at approximately 22:15 BST. [4] The blackout affected an estimated 60 million people in Brazil. [5]

Contents

Description

Thousands of passengers were stranded as metro trains came to a halt and buses failed to cope with the volume of passengers. There were widespread reports of road accidents as street lighting and traffic lights failed. [6] The blackout began about 22:15 on Tuesday and lasted until about 02:45 on Wednesday in São Paulo, although power was restored gradually in some places from before midnight. [7] [8] At the time, the blackout raised fears that the country was unprepared for the 2014 Olympic games. [1] [2]

In Paraguay, the blackout only lasted for about 20 minutes. [5]

Causes

The southern Brazilian electric system relies heavily on multiple powerful hydroelectric plants along the Plate River and its tributaries. The power generated by those plants is then transmitted across the country through a network of high-voltage AC and DC transmission lines, but major loads in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo are relatively close to the generators. Because geography constrains transmission line placement in the area, the Brazilian system is designed to handle multiple contingencies without failure, [9] which may have prevented a worse blackout. [10]

In the case of the blackout, heavy rains and strong winds caused [3] [11] all three phases on a key 750 kV transmission line from Itaipu to Sao Paulo to short circuit. The system protection temporarily isolated the line to allow the electrical arc to deionize, but an additional protective inductor device that attached with a time delay prevented the system from reconnecting the failed transmission line. [10] Without the transmission line, additional transmission lines disconnected, automatically causing the complete loss of 14 GW of power and the shutdown of the Brazilian (60 Hz) side of the Itaipu Dam. [3] [11]

The power swing resulting from the change in generation also cause other generators to remove themselves from service, and then the loads in Rio and Sao Paulo overloaded the remaining (northbound) transmission lines. [10] The power cut, which Brazilian officials said affected 18 of the country's 26 states, brought chaos to cities including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Campo Grande and Vitória. [8]

When the HVDC transmission lines into Brazil failed, the power produced on the Paraguayan (50 Hz) side of Itaipu overloaded transmission lines into Paraguay. In such situations the lines are supposed to automatically disconnect, but that protection system failed and the lines remaining in service until they shorted out. The resulting frequency oscillations collapsed the Paraguayan electric system. [10] Itaipu then shut down completely, for the first time in its 25-year history. [3] [11]

Restoration of the grid was delayed when multiple black start hydroelectric plants failed. [10]

Investigation

Media such as Slashdot [12] and 60 Minutes reported [13] that the outage was the work of hackers. Two days before, CBS had aired a special report, in which anonymous sources had claimed that hackers had caused Brazilian blackouts in 2005 and 2007. [2]

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arranged an emergency commission to enquire into the cause of the blackout. [14] The blackout also unleashed a political stir as the Minister of Energy has been summoned to testify before Congress. [15]

In December, 2010, a leaked US diplomatic cable confirmed that the blackouts had not been caused by a cyberattack. [13]

Affected regions

Paraguay

The Itaipu Dam is shared with Paraguay. In the immediate aftermath of its failure, interconnecting lines to Paraguay's other large powerplant, the Yacyreta Dam (in the border with Argentina), also failed. All of the country's territory was affected by the blackout. [16] [17]

Brazil

Map showing the locations in Brazil affected by the blackout
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
Entirely affected states
Partially affected states 2009 Brazil blackout.svg
Map showing the locations in Brazil affected by the blackout
  Entirely affected states
  Partially affected states
Entirely affected states [ citation needed ]
Partially affected states

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Itaipu Dam</span> Dam along the Brazil–Paraguay border

The Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. It is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world, and holds the 45th largest reservoir in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paraná River</span> River in South America

The Paraná River is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some 4,880 kilometres (3,030 mi). Among South American rivers, it is second in length only to the Amazon River. It merges with the Paraguay River and then farther downstream with the Uruguay River to form the Río de la Plata and empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geraldo Alckmin</span> Vice president of Brazil

Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho is a Brazilian physician and politician currently serving as 26th vice president of Brazil. He previously was the Governor of São Paulo for two nonconsecutive terms, the longest serving since democratization, 2001 to 2006 and 2011 to 2018.

The HVDC Itaipu is a High-voltage direct current overhead line transmission system in Brazil from the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant to the region of São Paulo. The project consists of two ±600 kV bipoles, each with a rated power of 3150 MW, which transmit power generated at 50 Hz from the Paraguay side of the Itaipu Dam to the Ibiúna converter station near São Roque, São Paulo. The system was put in service in several steps between 1984 and 1987, and remains among the most important HVDC installations in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eletrobras</span> Brazilian electric utilities company

Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. is a major Brazilian electric utilities company. The company's headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentine Interconnection System</span> Wide area electric power grid of Argentina

The Argentine Interconnection System is a wide area synchronous grid that links the regional networks of all Argentinian provinces, with the exception of Tierra del Fuego. It is also connected to the power grids of several neighboring countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast blackout of 2003</span> Major power outage in August 2003 in North America

The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, and most parts of the Canadian province of Ontario on Thursday, August 14, 2003, beginning just after 4:10 p.m. EDT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentina–Brazil relations</span> Bilateral relations

The Argentina–Brazil relationship is both close and historical, and encompasses the economy, trade, culture, education, and tourism. From war and rivalry to friendship and alliance, this complex relationship has spanned more than two centuries. The countries also share a system of government, a federal republic with a presidential system.

The 1999 Southern Brazil blackout was a widespread power outage that started in Brazil on March 11 and lasted until June 22, 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brazil–Paraguay relations</span> Bilateral relations

Brazil–Paraguay relations are foreign relations between Brazil and Paraguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Chile blackout</span> Major power outage

The 2011 Chile blackout was a major power outage that occurred on 24 September 2011, approximately between 20:30 and 21:45 local time, although the time of reinstatement varied geographically. It mainly affected the regions from Coquimbo to Maule, where the blackout was total, but it also reportedly partially affected the Atacama and Bío Bío regions. The blackout affected approximately nine million Chileans.

Several major power outages have occurred in the country of Malaysia.

Two severe power outages affected most of northern and eastern India on 30 and 31 July 2012. The 30 July 2012 blackout affected over 400 million people and lasted about 13.5 hrs. During that period, it was the largest power outage in history by number of people affected, beating the January 2001 blackout in Northern India. Similar conditions caused a blackout on the next day, which remained the largest power outage in history as of June 2024. The outage affected more than 620 million people, spread across 22 states in Northern, Eastern, and Northeast India. An estimated 32 gigawatts of generating capacity was taken offline. Of the affected population, 320 million initially had power, while the rest lacked direct access. Electric service was restored in the affected locations between 31 July and 1 August 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 in Brazil</span> Brazil-related events during 2009

Events in the year 2009 in Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1974 in Brazil</span> Brazil-related events during the year of 1974

Events in the year 1974 in Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 in Brazil</span> Brazil-related events during the year of 2018

Events in the year 2018 in Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Venezuelan blackouts</span> Nationwide power outages

Nationwide recurring electrical blackouts in Venezuela began in March 2019. Experts and state-run Corpoelec sources attribute the electricity shortages to lack of maintenance and to a lack of technical expertise in the country resulting from a brain drain; Nicolás Maduro's administration attributes them to sabotage. Since March, various nationwide blackouts occurred in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay blackout</span> Blackout affecting Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Paraguay

On 16 June 2019, a large-scale power outage struck most of Argentina, all of Uruguay, and parts of Paraguay, leaving an estimated total of 48 million people without electrical supply.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosângela Lula da Silva</span> First Lady of Brazil since 2023

Rosângela Lula da Silva, commonly known by her nickname Janja, is the First Lady of Brazil as the wife of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Previously, she was an assistant to the Director-General and coordinator of sustainable development programs at hydroelectric dam Itaipu Binacional, and a communications and institutional affairs advisor at electric utilities company Eletrobras.

References

  1. 1 2 Downie, Andrew (11 Nov 2009). "Brazil blackout raises more questions for the Olympics". [[Time (magazine)|]]. Archived from the original on 4 Nov 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Marull, Yana (11 Nov 2009). "Brazil vows to find cause of huge blackout". AFP. Archived from the original on 17 Nov 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Brooks, Bradley; Azzoni, Tales; Sibaja, Marco; Rice, John (10 Nov 2009). "Lights flicker on after blackout in Brazil / Bad weather blamed in blackout for 60M in Brazil". AP. Archived from the original on 16 Nov 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  4. Ellsworth, Brian (2009-02-09). Grudgings, Stuart; Allen, Vicki (eds.). "Brazil blackout a glitch, but shows investment need". Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  5. 1 2 Brooks, Bradley; Sibaja, Marco; Warren, Michael; Clendenning, Alan (25 May 2011). "Brazil blackout". The World Post . Huffington Post. AP. Archived from the original on 3 Mar 2016.
  6. "Inquiry ordered after Brazilian blackout" . The Financial Times . Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  7. "Brazilian President says massive blackout isolated incident". World. Xinhua . 2009-11-12. Archived from the original on 15 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  8. 1 2 Castelli, Alessandra; Frayssinet, Fabiana; Franco, Lucrecia (2009-11-11). "Power restored in Brazil after blackouts". CNN . Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  9. Ordacgi, Jorge Miguel F.; Massaud, Alexandre Garcia; Aquino Viotti, Fernando; Campos de Lima, Roberto (August 2009). "Wide area protection systems in Brazil". PAC World. Omicron Electronics. pp. 54–59.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Ordacgi, Jorge Miguel F. (March 2010). "Brazilian blackout 2009". Blackout watch. PAC World. Omicron Electronics. pp. 36–37.
  11. 1 2 3 "Official: Brazil Blackout Caused by Bad Weather". Fox News. AP. 2009-11-11. Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  12. "Massive Power Outages In Brazil Caused By Hackers – Slashdot". It.slashdot.org. 8 November 2009. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  13. 1 2 Soares, Marcelo (2010-12-06). "WikiLeaked Cable Says 2009 Brazilian Blackout Wasn't Hackers, Either". Wired News . Archived from the original on 9 December 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
  14. "Lula exige una explicación por el apagón que dejó sin luz a millones de personas en Brasil" [Lula gives an explanation for the blackout that left a million people in Brazil without light]. El Pais (in Spanish). 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  15. "Brasil: tormenta política por el apagón" [Brazil: Political torment over a blackout]. La Nacion (in Spanish). 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  16. "Gigantesco apagón en el Brasil deja a oscuras a todo Paraguay" [Gigantic blackout in Brazil also obscures Paraguay today]. abc digital (in Spanish). 2009-07-03. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  17. "Paraguay señala a Brasil por apagón". América Latina. Voice of America (in Spanish). 2009-08-20. Archived from the original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-12.