The ninth heat wave does not give respite.
With thermals that exceed 30°, it has affected a large part of the country for weeks and the National Meteorological Service (SMN) maintains the red alert for extreme temperatures for the Federal Capital and its surroundings.
Strong storms and rains are expected this Wednesday in eight provinces, but
thousands of Edesur and Edenor users continue to be affected by power outages
.
This afternoon there were more than 90,000 users without electricity in the AMBA between Edesur and Edenor customers.
How long
does it take to restore service once the heat subsides?
Can rain cause delays in repairs?
How do minimum temperatures influence power outages?
What types of problems are there today in neighborhoods where there is no electricity?
Why don't you report the duration of an outage more?
Clarín contacted Edenor and Edesur to find some answers.
He also consulted with energy experts.
When do the power outages end?
Neither Edesur nor Edenor could specify to
Clarín
when the electricity supply will be restored.
“Each case is particular.
It depends if it is a medium voltage cable or a low voltage problem.
Declining demand helps, but
equipment and the network were under heavy stress for more than 20 days
from the heat wave.
We cannot specify the repair time because all contingencies are different.
We are working to restore the service in the neighborhoods that were affected as a result of the high demand”, they responded to
Clarín
from Edesur.
More than 80,000 Edesur users are still without electricity in the AMBA.
Photo Juan Manuel Foglia
For its part,
Edenor did not want to provide further details or answer questions
.
Does the rain bring relief?
“If it rains, it becomes difficult for the company to work under the climatic factor of the rain.
We base ourselves on 5 golden rules and one is prevention in the event of an electrical risk.
Rain is a conductor of electricity.
So, for security reasons, it is not possible to work under these conditions.
However, there are security elements to work that are subject to the places where the repair has to be done, ”says Javier Fernández, deputy secretary of the Argentine Association of Electrician Installers, in dialogue with
Clarín
.
minimum temperatures
Such high minimums meant that the equipment and the network could not be cooled properly.
“There were nights when temperatures did not drop below 30° and that caused failures at various points in the concession area.
In recent weeks,
historical consumption records
have been set throughout the area.
In addition, for 3 consecutive days consumption records were broken.
This had never happened in the history of the distributor”, they emphasize from Edesur.
For his part, Fernández indicates that
minimum temperatures influence power outages
in a not-so-serious way, as long as they are not very low.
“We are always subject to the electricity consumption of the users.
Likewise, the heat makes the transformers on the street hotter than in winter,” he says.
The Police guard the Edesur offices, the focus of protests by users who have been without electricity for days.
Photo Juan Manuel Foglia
And Claudio Figuerola, CEO of
Wabee Smart Energy
, a company dedicated to managing energy consumption, warns: "The minimum voltage in power cuts is a problem because they give the user the idea that the service has returned but in the Bottom line, what it does is force the teams and can burn them.
People who only have the meter at the door have no way of knowing what the voltage is with which they are providing the service”.
Problems in neighborhoods without electricity
At 5:15 p.m., there were 8,499 Edenor users without AMBA service and 83,762 Edesur users.
“There are medium voltage problems and low voltage problems.
Each case is particular.
In addition, the lines differ between the Province, where the majority are aerial networks, and the Federal Capital, where the line is underground.
To carry out the repairs, you must intervene in a laboratory truck that finds the fault zone, request permission to break the street and proceed with the repair ”, they point out from Edesur.
In the company they do not know when the light will return, even if the temperatures drop.
Photo Juan Manuel Foglia
“The residual of users without supply is due to this phenomenon.
The distributor is working with all its available resources to overcome the contingency caused by high temperatures and extraordinary demand," insists the company.
Meanwhile, Fernández understands that the problems that occur today in the neighborhoods are due to the fact that the energy transformers are not resisting the electricity demand of the people.
“In the same house you can find up to 4 teams.
The transformers on the street are not prepared to withstand so much electrical demand. ”, He slides.
And he questions: “
Companies should modernize their structure based on the consumption that people have at home.
The lack of investment in street equipment is a destabilizing factor: transformers burst and street cables burn.”
For Salvador Gil, director of the Energy Engineering course at the University of San Martín and postgraduate professor at the Faculty of Design and Urbanism of the University of Buenos Aires, the scenario includes multiple complex situations: the lack of energy generation, high voltage lines, transformers and demand that exceeds what the network allows.
And of course, he mentions the eternal problem of investments.
In violation of the regulatory framework,
the State does not offer a rate and the companies do not make the investments that they should do.
Worse,
the subsidies do not promote a rational and efficient use of energy
.
Thus, all the problems are aggravated ”, he analyzes.
Figuerola even illustrates: “The neighborhoods where there is no electricity, in addition to the problem of not being able to work or that consumer goods such as food are affected, have the difficulties of keeping a true record of how long they were without electricity.
Nor can they measure with what voltage it returns if they do not have a consumption monitor in real time”.
The duration of the cut
Although they cannot estimate when the power will return in the neighborhoods where there are cuts, from Edesur they point out: "The duration of the cuts is reported on the ENRE website and emails are also sent to clients with estimates of the duration of the cuts that may vary depending on the tasks”.
“It no longer warns how long the estimated duration of a cut will be.
No more information is given because it is not a scheduled outage
, for example, notifying that repair or maintenance maneuvers are going to take place that will last a certain number of hours.
Edesur sends an email to its clients to inform them that there is no electricity in the area and to notify them, if necessary, that the system has been restored”, concludes Fernández.
MG
look too
Power outages: living in constant fear of not knowing when the blackout will come
Heat wave in the AMBA: when the rains arrive and the long-awaited relief