At the corner of Pedro Goyena and Beauchef, in the heart of Caballito, traffic officers
divert drivers
from continuing along Beauchef towards Valle.
On that block there is a row of generating equipment that has been working for days to supply the Edesur network.
This year the number of generators in the "Summer Plan" was tripled to
prevent power outages
due to heat.
The company confirmed to
Clarín
that
19 more pieces of equipment were added
after the fire at the Caballito substation, which on Saturday left 60,000 users without supply.
By Tuesday afternoon everyone had recovered service.
These gray or white masses catch the attention of anyone passing by on the street.
Not only because of their sizes, but because of the noise they generate.
Almost all of them
occupy one or two travel lanes
for traffic, and also
parking spaces
.
They are distributed in several strategic points of the City, now with a special focus on Caballito, where a power plant that provided energy to some 100,000 users was lost.
At this intersection of Pedro Goyena and Beauchef, surrounded by fences and cables, about five teams are working, collaborating to supply the Edesur network since before Saturday: they are from the company Aggreko.
Behind these machines is an Edesur generator that was installed post-fire to assist residents who were left without supply.
These large machines that occupy meters of street are also installed in other places such as Emilio Miter at 900, in Parque Chacabuco, where you can find
seven generators that provide energy to the Edesur network
so that it can distribute it.
In that area, the teams occupy a traffic lane.
Nearby businesses comment that although the noise can be annoying, they understand that the work they do is necessary to ensure that there are no power outages due to high temperatures.
Pedro Goyena and Beauchef.
An Edesur generator set to supply electricity to the area affected by the fire.
Photo Juano Tesone
These same generating sets are also installed in José María Moreno at 300, where the fire occurred.
Clarín
counts five, very close to the Caballito substation.
This street remains closed at the height of Guayaquil, two blocks from the scene of the incident.
“These teams are working since what happened on Saturday, before they were not there.
Now we have light.
What those from Edesur told us is that it will take two to four months for the situation to be restored.
The only thing we hope is that it won't be so hot again,” says Stella, one of the residents of Caballito who lives a few meters from the origin of the fire.
In the background,
the sound of the equipment is constant
, but she says that they prefer to have them there to have light, even if they have to put up with the noise and the space that is lost.
People walk between generators in Acoyte and Rivadavia.
Photo Juano Tesone
There are very few places that have their own generators, and there are several that remain closed due to the Carnival holidays.
From Edesur they indicate to
Clarín that after the fire four
four packs
(large generators, with great power) of five megawatts (mw) each
were put into operation , in addition to five groups of one mw each.
These are added to a Summer Plan that, as specified by Edesur,
tripled the amount of equipment reserved for the summer
.
One of the generators installed by Edesur to reinforce the electrical network in Emilio Miter and Eva Peron.
Photo Juano Tesone
“With all this, plus the load redistribution that was done in the network, supply could be provided to all customers.
Likewise, over the next few days, we are going to continue incorporating more groups to have greater availability on the network and operate with greater peace of mind,” they state.
And they add that as of this Tuesday
they are already authorized to enter
the substation damaged by the fire: “So they are going to start with the civil works, which must be demolished from the roof to the walls, and with the technical work.
Just in case, we are going to have more generator sets that are coming from different parts of the country.”
Other distributors such as Edenor and Epec, from Córdoba, had already contributed equipment to Edesur.
Neighbors' concern
There are as many addresses where Edesur generating equipment is installed to provide supply to the affected homes: there are two that are in Assembly and Vernet (Parque Chacabuco), and another two established on Directorio avenue between Viel and Doblas (Caballito).
The generator sets became a common postcard in much of the City.
Photo Juano Tesone
In the first case, the neighbors recovered the supply in the early hours of Tuesday.
They had come from two days without power, except for a very short period of time on Sunday morning.
During the afternoon, Edesur
moved the generating sets a few meters due to the complaint of an owner
.
That led to widespread concern among neighbors.
They feared that the generators would be taken.
Then many of them stood at the Assembly to observe the company's work in re-installing the equipment.
Directory and Fold.
The generators take up parking spaces and generate noise, but neighbors prefer them to being without electricity.
Photo Juano Tesone
“There are many of us who
work
from home
and tomorrow is a work day, who doesn't use the internet to work?
Food spoils with these cuts, as do appliances.
When we made the complaints, a robot attended to us, there is no person,” describes Roxana, a resident of Chacabuco.
The residents of Av. Directorio were also afraid, as they noted that the generator on the corner with Viel had not worked since it was installed on Monday.
They temporarily had power on the block.
In the afternoon, they also waited for Edesur to give them a definitive response that would ensure the normalization of supply.
Pedro Goyena and Beauchef.
Generators and traffic cut off.
Photo Juano Tesone
At night, Mariné, a resident of that area, details: “We still have electricity and water.
There is a generator set that is working at 10%, which is not the one that is supplying us.
Edesur gave us electricity, they checked that camera and they have two cables that are cut, one low voltage and another I think is medium voltage, and they have to solve it.
"They have to come, disconnect that generator set and break up the floor and change the wiring."
Edesur reported on Tuesday afternoon that by 5 p.m., all users affected by the fire had recovered their electricity supply.
But they clarified that the service was going to "operate unstable" since the area was supplied thanks to the distribution of load with other substations and the placement of generating equipment.
"That is why we ask for responsible use of energy both in Caballito and in surrounding neighborhoods," they indicated.
More Edesur generating sets in Acoyte and Rivadavia.
Photo Juano Tesone
In Caballito, 19 extra generators were added due to the substation fire Photo Juano Tesone
Edesur tripled the number of generators this summer.
Photo Juano Tesone
Directorio and Doblas, another corner with a new "neighbor".
Photo Juano Tesone
MG