Technicians of Edenor electricity company stand under the rain as they work to fix a generator during a blackout in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, June 16, 2019. (Tomas F. Cuesta/Associated Press)

Massive blackout in South America leaves nearly 44 millions people without electric current

On early Sunday, a massive power blackout caused millions of citizens in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay stayed in dark without electricity. The blackout which was unprecedented in the country’s history happened around 7 a.m. local time according to Argentina’s energy secretary. 

Edesur, the Argentine energy company, through its official Twitter account, revealed the power outage happened because of failure in the transmission of electric power between the Yacyretá hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River and Salto Grande in the northeast of Argentina. However, the reason for the failure remained unclear. 

UTE, Uruguay’s energy company blamed Argentina on failure as a “flaw in the Argentine Network”.

Many activities were disturbed by the incident, such as public transportation stop operating, stores closed and Gubernatorial elections in Argentina on Sunday had to change the vote’s procedure by forcing voters to use their cellphones to cast ballots.

There were about 44 million Argentine stayings in dark by mid-afternoon. However, According to Argentina news agency Telam, in the evening, 98 percent of electric power in the country had been restored, while in Uruguay and Paraguay, the electricity had returned to 3 million people.

Paraguay had to redirect energy from the Itaipu hydroelectric dam – located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay- to restore power,  said the country National Energy Administration.

It is reported only Tierra del Fuego – the southern province - was the only area in Argentina unaffected by the blackout because it is not connected to the main electricity network. 

A huge blackout also happened in Venezuela three months ago, causing its citizens to stay in the dark for days. 

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/massive-blackout-hits-tens-of-millions-in-south-america/2019/06/16/8b292efe-9093-11e9-956a-88c291ab5c38_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b86dec8f7b09