Brazil Court Orders Power Fully Restored in Amapá in Three Days

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL –  A federal district court ordered on Saturday evening, November 7th, a three-day deadline for the Amapá blackout to be completely solved, with power fully restored, under penalty of a R$15 (US$2.67) million fine.

The decision, signed by Judge João Bosco Soares, also determines that the private company Isolux, responsible for managing the damaged power substation, should submit an action plan within 12 hours for restoring service and should be subject to contractual penalties. The company has not yet commented on the decision.

Furthermore, an inquiry was ordered by the Federal Audit Court (TCU) and the Federal Police (PF) to investigate the case, in addition to the creation of a work group together with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Eletronorte, Isolux and the Amapá Electricity Company (CEA).

On Sunday, November 8th, the state completed over 100 hours with no power. On Saturday, power was partially restored in some regions of the state, with 65 percent of the service and 6-hour shift rotation.

“The dignity of the human person extends far beyond the mere access to food, health or education, because the very maintenance of these rights depends on access to services considered essential to social welfare, including the supply of electricity, drinking water, telephone and internet reception, consubstantiating the ‘existential minimum'”, declared the magistrate in his decision.

Some points determined in the decision:

The establishment, within 12 hours, of a work group involving the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Eletronorte, Isolux and CEA;
That within 12 hours Isolux should submit an action plan for the immediate solution of the issue (fine of R$ 100 thousand for non-compliance);
Enforcement of contractual penalties against Isolux;
That the ANEEL and Eletronorte demonstrate in the file, in up to five days, that they regularly inspected the contract with Isolux;
Submission of the contract and amounts paid over the past 12 months between Eletronorte and Isolux and to the company in charge of inspection;
Establishment of an inquiry by the TCU and the PF;
A 3-day deadline for the complete solution of the power outage issue, under penalty of a fine of R$15 million.

Consequences

Despite the partial restoration of the service, the affected cities, mainly the capital of Amapá, are still facing a precarious situation, with food shortages, many of which lost due to lack of refrigeration.

The power outage also affected the state’s hydraulic system. There is lack of running water, mineral water and ice. With no power, internet and telephone services were also affected – most of them failed to operate.

Origin of the blackout

On Tuesday night, while there was a storm in Macapá, an explosion followed by a fire compromised the three transformers of a North Zone substation, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME). The causes of the fire are still unknown. An investigation was opened to determine responsibility.

The fire damaged one transformer and affected the other two – one of them was already inoperative because of maintenance performed since December 2019. According to the MME, the transformer still in maintenance could be restored, while the other two would need to be replaced.

The MME established a crisis office and sent a delegation to Amapá. On Friday, Governor Waldez Góes signed a decree declaring an emergency situation for 90 days in the affected cities.

On Saturday, Minister Bento Albuquerque said that by the end of next week Amapa’s energy should be fully restored. During this time, actions will be taken for the gradual restoration of the service, such as the delivery of thermoelectric generators and maintenance of the Coaracy Nunes hydroelectric plant, in the interior of the state.

“Thermoelectric generators will be available in Macapá in the coming days to reinforce the state’s energy security and we are also doing maintenance works at Coaracy Nunes so that it can increase the state’s load. As I said we will gradually restore power to Amapá. We are already close to 70 percent, we will reach 80 percent and 100 percent by next week,” he said.

Source: G1