On Thursday, the scorching heat in Argentina caused temperatures to rise dramatically, leading to power outages and an unprecedented surge in energy consumption.
According to officials, the energy grid required over 29,601 megawatts at 2.40pm.
The capital experienced a scorching Thursday with temperatures surpassing 37 degrees, which were alarmingly high. At the same time, energy regulators expressed their anticipation of consistently high demand levels.
On March 13, 2023 at 3:28 pm, the highest demand for power had been recorded, reaching 29,105 MW.
Possible power cuts may occur if the temperature remains above 20°C over multiple consecutive nights.
On Wednesday evening, certain areas within Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires Province encountered power outages.
In the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area on Thursday afternoon, more than 35,000 Edesur customers and 16,000 Edenor customers experienced a power outage in their homes.
In the City, the temperature rose above 37 degrees in the early afternoon.
The Administrator of the Wholesale Electricity Market, CAMMESA, announced that the electricity demand reached a new record of 29,029 MW at 2 pm.
According to data from the ENRE Electricity Regulation Entity’s official website, 42,015 customers of Edesur and 16,895 customers of Edenor experienced power outages after 3 pm, considering their consumption level.
The cities in the Edesur area of Buenos Aires Province that have been impacted include Almirante Brown, Avellaneda, Berazategui, Esteban Echeverria, Ezeiza, Florencio Varela, Lanus, Lomas de Zamora, Presidente Peron, Quilmes, and San Vicente.
The areas in Buenos Aires City where households are currently experiencing a lack of electricity are Almagro, Barracas, Caballito, Floresta, Mataderos, Monte Castro, Parque Chacabuco, Parque Las Naciones, Recoleta, San Cristóbal, San Telmo, Villa Crespo, Villa Devoto, Villa Lugano, Villa Riachuelo, Villa Soldati, and Villa Santa Rita.
At noon in Buenos Aires Province, the power cuts affected the following concession areas of Edesur: 3 de Febrero, Escobar, General Rodríguez, General San Martín, Hurlingham, Ituzaingó, La Matanza, Malvinas Argentinas, Merlo, Moreno, Morón, Pilar, San Fernando, San Isidro, San Miguel, Tigre, and Vicente López.
Last year, on Monday, March 13 at 3:53 pm, Argentina had to bring in 2,441 MW of electricity from neighboring countries to meet the extremely high energy demand, which was the highest ever recorded. Brazil provided 1,866 MW of energy that day. Meanwhile, the local power generation sector was operating at its maximum capacity. The thermal sector, however, was still unable to make available 7,448 MW of electricity.
– TIMES/NA
