Blackout, or blackout, is the term used to designate the temporary interruption in the electricity supply in a certain locality. Blackouts can happen in a neighborhood, a city, a region or even an entire country. These occurrences can be caused by several factors, ranging from very heavy rainfall and bad weather to overloading the electrical system and infrastructure failures. Blackouts cause the suspension of essential services, traffic problems and even economic losses, which can bring a series of losses to the population.
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Topics of this article
- 1 - Blackout summary
- 2 - What is the cause of the blackout?
- 3 - What are the consequences of the blackout?
- 4 - Possible measures to avoid a blackout
- 5 - Blackout in Brazil
- 6 - What are the biggest blackouts recorded in Brazil?
- 7 - Largest blackouts recorded in the world
blackout summary
A blackout is a temporary interruption in the supply of electricity in an area.
It can be caused by factors external to the network, such as bad weather, bushfires, fires, animal actions and acts of vandalism.
The internal factors that cause blackouts are technical problems in equipment or infrastructure, which may or may not be associated with human failures and system overload.
A blackout generates a series of inconveniences for the population, mainly due to the interruption of essential services, and can cause material and economic losses in commercial establishments.
Among the measures to avoid the occurrence of blackouts is the greater investment in maintenance of the electrical infrastructure, planning and relief of overload by expanding the generation and distribution network and diversifying the matrix energy.
The most recent blackout in Brazil happened in August 2023. In addition to this, the country recorded other major blackouts, especially in 2001.
In the world, the countries of the Indian subcontinent are the most affected by blackouts, such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
What is the cause of the blackout?
A blackout, also called a blackout, happens when there is a temporary interruption in the supply of electricity in a certain area, which can be one or more neighborhoods, cities, states and regions. Depending on the causes of the blackout, even an entire country could be affected. The causes of this interruption, which may be total or partial, are always linked to some type of failure in the electrical system.
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Failures in the electricity transmission system are occasioned so much per factors external as by factors internal to it, which may occur at any of the stages of generation and distribution of electricity.
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External factors: the main problems and factors that are external to the grid and the entire generation and distribution process are those of natural causes, that is, caused by phenomena of nature such as:
very intense rains;
lightning storms;
tree falls;
gales capable of affecting infrastructure and other atmospheric phenomena.
The action of animals, acts of vandalism against power stations or wiring, accidental fires or damage and accidents can also cause a temporary interruption in the supply of electricity.
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Internal factors: in this case, the blackouts are caused by human or equipment failures that are used in some stage of the process of generation and distribution of electric energy. Included here are questions such as:
lack of maintenance and supervision;
negligence regarding the replacement of old equipment;
electrical system overload;
absence or low rate of investments and other aspects that are inherent to the electricity network of a given territory.
What are the consequences of the blackout?
The interruption in the supply of electricity, even temporarily, affects different sectors of society. In order to better understand the possible consequences of a blackout, we must take into account some of the characteristics of the occurrence itself and also of the affected area. These are the features:
the time the location remains without electricity;
the size of the population living in the affected area;
economic activities and the services performed therein.
Thus, the consequences of a blackout may be more or less severe depending on the factors listed above. Among these consequences are:
Interruption of access to the internet and, in some cases, of telephony (mobile and landline).
Interruption of water supply in some cities or neighborhoods.
Impossibility of using essential appliances, such as the refrigerator. Depending on the time of the blackout, this leads to loss of food.
Hospitals and health centers need to interrupt certain services, taking risks for hospitalized patients or those who need care.
Disruption of transport services that depend on electricity, such as subways.
Traffic lights out of order, making traffic even more chaotic in cities and especially in large urban centers.
Banks and ATMs stop working.
Interruption of various services in schools, universities, offices, agencies, gas stations.
The lack of internet signal makes it impossible to pay for purchases via card or other electronic systems, harming commercial establishments.
Depending on the weather, commercial establishments such as butchers, supermarkets, grocery stores and bakeries may lose goods that need constant refrigeration.
See too:Power plants — how different energy production processes work
Possible measures to avoid a blackout
Allocation of a greater volume of investments to the country's energy sector, aimed at expanding transmission networks.
Implementation of improvements in the management and inspection of the energy sector.
Frequent maintenance of energy infrastructure, from generation to distribution.
Replacement of obsolete equipment and infrastructure after a certain period of operation.
diversification of local or national energy matrix so as not to depend on a single source of electricity generation.
Adoption of incentive programs aimed at avoid waste by the population.
Blackout in Brazil
Blackouts or blackouts are not uncommon in Brazil, which has already experienced both unforeseen and programmed occurrences. Failures and system overload are some of the main causes of blackouts in the national territory, with occurrences also recorded resulting from the water crisis. It is important to remember that the our electric matrix is mainly composed of hydroelectricity, and the low level of the reservoirs can cause problems in the generation and supply of electric energy.
The most recent blackout in Brazilian territory took place on August 15, 2023 and attacked cities in all five regions of the country, affecting 25 states and the Federal District. The only state that did not record an interruption in energy supply was Roraima, which is not connected to the National Energy System (SNE). Complaints about the lack of energy began to be registered at 08:20 in the morning in several Brazilian cities, including the capitals, and many people used social networks to register the problem.
The main cause identified for the 2023 blackout was an overload identified in the state of Ceará, in the Northeast region of Brazil. There is also a second event that may have influenced the interruption, but investigations are still ongoing. It is estimated that the interruption was in the order of 16,000 MW.
Power was restored gradually, starting with cities in the South and Southeast of the country. By late afternoon on August 15th, power had been restored in all affected areas.
What are the biggest blackouts recorded in Brazil?
The recent history of Brazil is marked by major blackouts, either by the area affected or by the duration. Below, see some of the biggest blackouts that have occurred in the country in the last two decades.
2020: on November 3, at 8:40 pm, the electricity supply was abruptly interrupted in the state of Amapá, in the North region of Brazil. Caused by an explosion in a transformer, the blackout affected 13 of the 16 municipalities in the state and lasted 22 days, or about three weeks. During the first four days the population had no access to electricity, but then a rotation system was established|1|.
2018: a failure at the Xingu substation, in the state of Pará, caused an interruption in the supply of 18,000 MW of energy on March 21. The North and Northeast states were the hardest hit, and there were repercussions in almost the entire national territory. More than 70 million people were left without electricity.
2013: as a result of fires near transmission towers in the interior of Piauí, which caused their automatic shutdown, all nine states in the Northeast region of Brazil were left without electricity in the month of August.
2009: between November 10th and 11th, 28,000 MW of electricity were disconnected due to heavy rains that hit the South and Southeast of the country, affecting the transmission lines. Between 60 and 70 million people were left without electricity for six hours. At least 18 states were affected somehow, beyond the Federal District.
2001: the blackout of 2001 happened due to structural factors and the lack of planning on the part of the Brazilian government, and also the scarcity of rain in the territory national level, which prevented the maintenance of the water level in the reservoirs and affected the generation of electricity. Scheduled interruptions and energy rationing measures were implemented to prevent the widespread blackout. The energy crisis lasted for nine months. Learn more about this blackout by clicking here.
Know more: Brazilian energy crisis of 2021
Biggest blackouts recorded in the world
The countries of the South Asian continent, especially in the Indian subcontinent, are the most affected by blackouts. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan top the list of worst recorded blackouts in the world. More recently, major power outages have been reported in the city of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, as a result of the bombings carried out by Russia. amid the war between these countries.
Below, see what the five biggest blackouts in the world in the last two decades:
India, 2012: more than 650 million people were affected by the shutdown of 32,000 MW of electricity on the 30th and 31st of July, caused by failure of circuit breakers at a station in the north of the country.
Pakistan, 2023: almost the entire Pakistani population was affected by the reduction in the frequency of the country's energy system on July 23, remaining almost 12 hours without electricity or with limited access.
India, 2001: Transmission grid failures cut the supply of 15,500 MW of electricity in India on January 2, with 230 million people left without electricity for approximately ten hours.
Pakistan, 2021: 200 million people, equivalent to 90% of Pakistan's population, were without power on the 9th of january due to a structural failure in a plant in the south of the country.
Bangladesh, 2014: a failure in the distribution lines coming from India, a neighboring country of Bangladesh, caused 150 million people to be without electricity in the country for 12 hours. the blackout happened in November.
Grades
|1| PACHECO, John; CASTRO, Wedson. Blackout in Amapá completes 1 year and exposes weaknesses in access to electricity in the state. G1 AP, 03 Nov. 2021. Available in: https://g1.globo.com/ap/amapa/noticia/2020/11/06/apagao-no-amapa-entenda-as-causas-e-consequencias-da-falta-de-energia-no-estado.ghtml
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CARREGOSA, Laís; CASTRO, Ana Paula. Minister says that blackout was caused by overload in Ceará and perhaps an 'event' in a place not yet detected. G1, 15 Aug. 2023. Available in: https://g1.globo.com/economia/noticia/2023/08/15/ministro-diz-que-apagao-foi-causado-por-um-evento-no-ceara-e-outro-em-local-ainda-nao-detectado.ghtml.
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CHAKRAVARTY, Sayantan; SARAN, Rohit. Major grid failure shows how deep-rooted the rot in India's power sector is. India Today, 15 Jan. 2001. Available in: https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/nation/story/20010115-major-grid-failure-shows-how-deep-rooted-the-rot-in-indias-power-sector-is-775951-2001-01-14.
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ESSAY. The chronology of blackouts in Brazil: remember. State of Minas, 15 Aug. 2023. Available in: https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/nacional/2023/08/15/interna_nacional, 1546421/the-chronology-of-blackouts-in-brazil-relembre.shtml.
GALILEO WRITING. Discover 5 historic blackouts that marked Brazil and the world. Galileo Magazine, 15 Aug. 2023. Available in: https://revistagalileu.globo.com/sociedade/historia/noticia/2023/08/conheca-5-apagoes-historicos-que-marcaram-o-brasil-e-o-mundo.ghtml.
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