Breaking point: Texas grid on the brink, 12 wards in Rio, Brasil hit with blackouts

August 5, 2011 – DALLAS – Unprecedented heatwave: The Texas power grid operator has scrambled this week to meet soaring electricity demand in the face of a brutal heat-wave, and residents of the second most populous U.S. state are one power plant shutdown away from rolling blackouts. Power demand for Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc, or ERCOT, which runs the power grid for most of the state, hit three consecutive records this week as Texans cranked up air conditioners to escape one of the hottest summers on record. Another record was not likely on Thursday, ERCOT said. The grid operator on Thursday cut power to some big industrial users, and businesses and households face a repeat of the rolling blackouts they suffered in February, when a bitter cold snap interrupted power supplies. Though ERCOT has done a good job balancing supply and demand, “You always have to expect the unexpected can happen,” said Arshad Mansoor, senior vice president at the Electric Power Research Institute. “A unit can shut. The wind may not blow.” –Reuters

Rio grid crash: The dealership said there is still no estimate for restoration of power in all suburbs of Rio de Janeiro today affected by the blackout. Light went out in at least 12 areas of the city, especially in the south (Copacabana, Ipanema, Botafogo, Botanical Gardens and Gávea) and northern (Tijuca, Vila Isabel, and Long River).  Although the service has been restored in some neighborhoods, there are traffic lights that remain detached in Tijuca, for example, causing congestion. According to the Operations Center of City Hall, even with the return of energy is required reprogramming of the signs being made by the Traffic Engineering Company (TEC) in Rio.  The subway stations Uruguaiana and Flamengo were without power. The problem, however, would have caused travel delays of trains, according to the Metro. The first light came on and Uruguaiana around 15:30, the station Flamengo. The health post Dom Helder Camara, in Botafogo, also lost power, but the situation was normalized. A spokesperson for the National System Operator (ONS) reported that at about 12pm, there was the shutdown of two transformers in the substation’s power Grajaú, in the north. With this, the third transformer, still working, overwhelmed. “To avoid an uncontrolled blackout, the operator asked the Light to make a cut of 190 megawatts of load.”  According to the advice of the ONS, was the Light who chose the neighborhoods where the cut would be made. “Another measure taken by the ONS is the drive station of Santa Cruz and Barbosa Lima Sobrinho for the peak hours, between 18h and 22h, could be seen peacefully”, he said. Also according to the ONS, the two transformer substation Grajaú are still not operating, but all charges have been reconnected. The cause of the shutdown is still being investigated. –Noticias  (Translated from Portuguese)

Toronto suburd blackout: Close to 8,000 people were without power in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood for more than an hour on Friday afternoon. The outage began at about 2:30 p.m. when power shut off for 7,700 people, said Toronto Hydro spokesperson Alexandra Stadnyk. Power had been restored to all customers as of 4:50 p.m. Initially a portion of the affected area, containing all but 600 homes, was restored at about 3:45 p.m. The initial outage affected Shaw Street to the west, Welland Avenue to the east, Lonsdale Road to the north and Bloor Street West to the south. The outage was caused by damaged equipment at a transformer station, according to Toronto Hydro. –Globe and Mail

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