BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Buenos Aires and several central Argentine provinces were affected Wednesday by a massive power blackout caused by a fire that knocked out three high-voltage lines, right in the middle of the worst wave of heat in decades.
Transener SA, the company dedicated to transporting electrical energy in the South American country, said in a statement that in the afternoon “three High Voltage Lines that link the transformer stations of General Rodríguez – a suburb to the west – went out of service of the capital– and with the coastal area, as a consequence of a field fire”.
He added that in conditions of high electricity demand, with temperatures that exceed an average of 30 degrees Celsius, “the disturbance generated oscillations in the system… with the consequent restriction in demand.”
The Atucha I nuclear power plant went out of service preventively.
Several neighborhoods in the capital were without electricity, which caused the interruption in the service of the main metro and suburban rail lines. Several areas of the provinces of Córdoba, Mendoza, San Luis, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe were also left in the dark.
Santiago Yanotti, undersecretary of electrical energy, told the Todo Noticias channel that they expected “in a couple of hours to have the service restored.”
The official said the causes of the fire are unknown, but he suspects it was intentional.
The massive blackout occurs at a time when the South American country is affected by the worst heat wave since the beginning of the last century.
