2023 Brazil blackout explained

The 2023 Brazil blackout was a power outage that occurred across Brazil on 15 August 2023 at 8:30 Brasília Time (UTC−03:00). It interrupted approximately 19 gigawatts of electric load, which was approximately 27% of the total load at that moment.^[1]

Cause

According to the (Portuguese: Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico, ONS), the blackout occurred due to the opening of the wide area synchronous grid between the North and Southeast regions of Brazil,^[2] in a 500 kilovolt circuit near Imperatriz, Maranhão.^[3] The exact cause of the blackout is currently unknown and under investigation.

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, created a crisis chamber for investigating the cause of the blackout.^[4]

Silveira asked the Federal Police (PF) and the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) to investigate whether the blackout was caused by human action.^[5]

Affected areas

The blackout affected the Federal District and all states of Brazil, except Roraima which is not yet connected to the National Interconnected System.^{[6] [7]}

The North region was most affected by the blackout, with a 83.8% drop in power supply, followed by the Northeast region, with a 44.4% drop.^[8]

Impact

Subways

Subways in Brazil were interrupted by the blackout. In São Paulo, five lines were disrupted. The 4-Yellow subway line operated between 8:30 and 9:25 Brasília Time (UTC−03:00) with reduced speed. Passengers in São Paulo subways were oriented by sound warnings and by support and security agents. In Salvador, Bahia, the subway line stopped and passengers had to leave the trains and walk on the subway lines.^[9]

Water

In Amapá, the supply of water was suspended due to the blackout.^[10]

Schools

In Manaus, all schools were affected by the blackout and dismissed students at 8:30 Amazon Time (UTC−04:00) on 15 August 2023.

Internet and telecommunications

The blackout caused Internet and telecommunication services in Brazil to go down in some areas.^[11]

Recovery

Shortly after the blackout, the process of restoring electricity began. By 9:16, 6 gigawatts of energy was restored.^[12]

Electricity in the South and Central-West regions was fully restored by 9:05 and 9:33, respectively.^[13]

By 10:22, 27% of the electrical charge in the North region and 68% in the Northeast region was restored, and by 11:00, electricity was fully restored in the Southeast region.^[14]

By 12:30, 41% of the electrical charge in the North region and 85% in the Northeast region was restored.^[15]

By 14:49, electricity was restored in all regions of Brazil.

External links

• Ocorrência no SIN em 15 de agosto de 2023
  • Relatório de Análise de Perturbação - Análise da Perturbação do dia 15/08/2023 às 08h30min

Notes and References

1. ONS publica documento técnico que consolida informações iniciais da ocorrência no SIN em 15 de agosto de 2023. Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico. 2023-08-17. 2023-08-18. pt-BR. ONS publishes technical document which consolidates initial information about the occurrence on the SIN at 15 August 2023.
2. News: Toledo. Marina. Apagão atinge vários estados e deixa brasileiros sem energia. Blackout affects several states and leaves Brazilians without electricity. pt-BR. CNN Brazil. 15 August 2023. 15 August 2023.
3. News: Rittner. Daniel. Falha em Imperatriz dividiu país ao meio durante apagão, dizem fontes. Failure in Imperatriz divided country in half during blackout, says sources. pt-BR. CNN Brazil. 15 August 2023. 17 August 2023.
4. News: Ventura. Manoel. Monteiro. Renan. Apagão atinge estados do Nordeste, do Norte e do Sudeste. Ministério de Minas e Energia cria sala de crise. Blackout affects Northeastern, Northern and Southern states. Ministry of Mines and Energy creates crisis chamber. pt-BR. Extra. Grupo Globo. 15 August 2023. 15 August 2023.
5. News: Carregosa. Lais. Castro. Ana Paula. Ministro diz que vai pedir à PF e à Abin investigarem se houve ação humana nas causas do apagão desta terça. Minister says he will ask the PF and the ABIN to investigate whether there was human action in the causes of the blackout of this Tuesday. pt-BR. G1. Grupo Globo. 15 August 2023. 15 August 2023.
6. News: Ribeiro. Pablo. Apagão: veja a situação de cada estado após queda de energia. Blackout: see the situation of each state after power outage. pt-BR. G1. Grupo Globo. 15 August 2023. 15 August 2023.
7. News: Entenda por que Roraima não foi afetado pelo apagão nacional. pt-BR. G1. Grupo Globo. 15 August 2023. 27 December 2023.
8. News: Nakagawa. Fernando. Norte teve queda de 83,8% da energia e Nordeste perdeu 44,4%; retomada nas regiões é lenta. North has 83.8% drop in power supply and Northeast lost 44.4%; recovery at the regions is slow. pt-BR. CNN Brazil. 15 August 2023. 15 August 2023.
9. News: Apagão: semáforos, metrô, aulas, exames, o que foi afetado no País com a falta de energia. Blackout: traffic lights, subway, classes, exams, what was affected in the Country with the power outage. pt-BR. UOL. 15 August 2023. 15 August 2023.
10. News: Comunicado. Notice. pt-BR. Concessionária de Saneamento do Amapá. 15 August 2023. 15 August 2023.
11. News: Veloso. Thássius. Claro, TIM e Vivo ficam sem sinal por causa de apagão no Brasil. Claro, TIM and Vivo left without signal due to blackout in Brazil. pt-BR. Tecnoblog. 15 August 2023. 17 August 2023.
12. News: Nota informativa. Informational note. pt-BR. Ministério de Minas e Energia. Ministry of Mines and Energy. 15 August 2023. 17 August 2023.
13. News: Sistema Interligado Nacional está 100% recomposto. National Interconnected System is 100% recomposed. pt-BR. Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica. National Electricity Agency. 15 August 2023. 17 August 2023.
14. News: Nota informativa 2. Informational note 2. pt-BR. Ministério de Minas e Energia. Ministry of Mines and Energy. 15 August 2023. 17 August 2023.
15. News: Nota informativa 3. Informational note 3. pt-BR. Ministério de Minas e Energia. Ministry of Mines and Energy. 15 August 2023. 17 August 2023.