According to the New York Times reported on June 16, Argentina and Uruguay had a national blackout on the 16th, social media users said that parts of Brazil, Paraguay and Chile were also affected.
At 7:50 local time on the 16th, Argentine power company EdesurArgentina said on Twitter that "the power outages in Argentina and Uruguay have been blacked out due to large-scale power interconnection systems."
Uruguay Ute Power stated that “a failure of the Argentine grid affected the connected system, resulting in the inability of the entire country and several provinces in neighbouring countries to supply electricity. The system failed at 7:06 am local time.”
The Argentine Energy State Secretariat issued a notice saying that about 48 million people are currently affected by power outages and it is expected that it will take several hours to fully restore power. An official of the Deputy State Secretariat of the Civil Defence of Argentina said that some areas in southern Argentina are currently being restored.
As it was Sunday, the lives of the citizens of the two countries were not greatly affected. However, there are four provinces in Argentina that are going to conduct provincial elections on the same day. It is expected that the election process will be delayed. Argentine domestic subways, city rails and other traffic are temporarily suspended. However, the two airports in the city of Buenos Aires have activated spare motors after the power outage and are now functioning normally.
At present, the power companies in both countries have started repair work. The Argentine power company said that such a large-scale power outage was the first in history. At around 9:40, the capital city of Buenos Aires and surrounding areas have begun to gradually restore power. The Uruguayan Power Company also said that starting from 10:30, the southern coast and the capital region have gradually begun to restore power, but the repair is difficult, it takes several hours, and people hope to be patient.
Some social media users said that the blackout also spread to Paraguay and southern Brazil. An Argentine Energy Ministry official said that the scope and extent of the blackout are still unclear, and the reasons for the blackout remain to be clarified. According to EdesurArgentina, the company has more than 25 million customers.
Brazil also experienced a major blackout in 2009, when three of the largest Itaipu hydropower stations in Brazil were faulty, affecting tens of millions of people, and exposed the fragility of the country's power construction. The Itaipu Hydropower Station is located on the Parana River at the junction of Brazil and Paraguay and is an important source of electricity for neighboring countries.
