Temperatures soared in Argentina on Thursday as sweltering heat prompted blackouts and pushed energy demand to an all-time high.
At 2.40pm, more than 29,601 megawatts was in demand across the energy grid, authorities said.
The extremely high temperatures recorded on Thursday, touching over 37 degrees in the capital, came as energy regulators said they expected record levels of demand to continue.
The previous record had been on March 13, 2023, when the demanded power reached 29,105 MW, at 3.28 pm.
Every time the temperature stays above 20°C for several nights in a row, there are possible power cuts.
Some areas in Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires Province experienced cuts on Wednesday evening.
Over 35,000 Edesur and 16,000 Edenor users were without power in their homes on Thursday afternoon in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area.
Early in the afternoon, the thermometer went above 37 degrees in the City.
The CAMMESA Administrator of the Wholesale Electricity Market informed that at 2 pm, the electricity demand record had been broken, at 29,029 MW.
Given that consumption level, according to figures on the state of the electricity utility on the official website of the ENRE Electricity Regulation Entity, after 3 pm, 42,015 Edesur and 16,895 Edenor customers were left without power.
The Buenos Aires Province cities affected in the Edesur area are Almirante Brown, Avellaneda, Berazategui, Esteban Echeverria, Ezeiza, Florencio Varela, Lanús, Lomas de Zamora, Presidente Perón, Quilmes and San Vicente.
Households without power supply in Buenos Aires City are in the neighbourhoods of 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.
In the meantime, Edesur’s concession areas affected by power cuts at noon in Buenos Aires Province were 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.
Argentina needed to import 2,441 MW from countries in the region to cover the record-breaking energy demand on Monday March 13 last year at 3:53 pm, the previous record. That day, Brazil contributed 1,866 MW. The demand from the local generation park was at its peak. The termal sector still has 7,448 MW unavailable.
– TIMES/NA
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