Blackout hits central, south Brazil

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

CNN) -- A blackout struck a large swath of central and south Brazil Tuesday night, affecting at least six states, CNN en Español reported.

The blackout hit at about 10:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. ET), according to the official state news agency, Agencia Brasil.

In the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, some electricity was restored a few minutes after the initial blackout, but with low power, the agency reported.

...snip...

Rio's main streets and avenues were in a total blackout. Video footage showed long lines of cars at a near standstill on the roads, and the subway system in Rio came to a stop.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/11/10/brazil.blackout/

[global1]

1. The Olympic Committee Should Have Listened To Obama.......nt

[rabs]

2. Itaipu went off grid for first time

Precise cause not established yet but first reports say a huge rain/lightening storm or another atmospheric phenomenon may have caused it. Grid is now back up and power being restored in most of the outage area. The problem was a transmission failure.

Itaipu generates 14 GW of power, about 20 percent of what south/central Brazil uses. It began generating in 1984 and now has 20 generators with 700/750 MW output each.

--- From Jornal do Brasil newspaper


Itaipu para totalmente de funcionar pela 1ª vez na história

Portal Terra


BRASÍLIA - O apagão ocorrido nesta terça-feira em diversas regiões do país não foi um problema de geração de energia, mas sim de transmissão, de acordo com o presidente da usina de Itaipu, Jorge Samek. Esta é a primeira vez na história que Itaipu para totalmente de funcionar.

Segundo Samek, algum vendaval ou outra causa atmosférica pode ter causado a falha. No entanto, as causas do apagão ainda não foram oficialmente confirmadas.

[rabs]

3. Photos from São Paulo (perhaps the largest unknown city in the world)

Earlier tonight, power is mostly restored now.

São Paulo — Population: 10,886,518 in city and 19,616,060 in metro region. (Recent figures)










Hitching a ride in Rio de Janeiro, main avenue Rio Branco.

(Photos O Estado de São Paulo)

[Bozita]

4. Brazil's 2 Largest Cities Hit by Blackouts

Source: AP

November 10, 2009
Brazil's 2 Largest Cities Hit by Blackouts

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:40 p.m. ET

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- A massive power failure blacked out Brazil's two largest cities and other parts of Latin America's biggest nation for more than two hours late Tuesday, leaving millions of people in the dark after a huge hydroelectric dam suddenly went offline.

Paraguay was also affected when the Itaipu dam straddling the two nations' border stopped producing 17,000 megawatts of power, resulting in outages in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and at least several other big Brazilian cities, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said.

The cause of the failure had not been determined, but Lobao said strong storms uprooted trees near the Itaipu dam just before it went offline and could be to blame. Rio was the hardest hit city, he said.

At 12:37 a.m. Wednesday, the lights in Rio's Copacabana neighborhood roared back to life, prompting cheers and thunderous car honking.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/10/world/AP-LT-Brazil-Blackouts.html?hp

---

Anybody else see 60 Minutes on Sunday?

[imdjh]

5. what was on 60 minutes?

[Bozita]

7. link to text and video ... click on " Sabotaging The System"

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

[AlphaCentauri]

6. You see those socialist are destroying Brazil

time for Enron to step in

:sarcasm:

[Blackhatjack]

8. The Real Story Just Might Be ....'Hackers Blackout Rio, Demand Billions To Turn Back On'

OR

'Hackers to Rio: We Own You, Pay UP!"

[whoneedstickets]

9. Cyber-warfare?

I think someone is using the Brazilian system to test taking down parts of a large complex, continental-sized grid without doing it in the US where we might notice.

[Bozita]

10. Noon update from NYT ...

November 12, 2009
Brazil Looks for Answers After Huge Blackout

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
RIO DE JANEIRO — Officials were searching for answers early Wednesday after a power failure blacked out large swaths of Brazil and Paraguay for more than two hours late Tuesday.

The failure of three transmission lines at Itaipu, the world’s largest operating hydroelectric plant, created a domino effect that cut energy to 18 of 27 states in Brazil, including the country’s two largest cities, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and affected an estimated 60 million people. Airports in several cities were briefly shut down, and passengers had to be pulled from subway cars in São Paulo when the system lost power.

Electricity system operators were quick to dismiss the possibility of sabotage at the Itaipu dam and assigned initial blame to an unexplained atmospheric event possibly exacerbated by heavy rains. It was the first time that Itaipu had failed so completely in its 25 years of operation, energy officials said late Tuesday.

Energy experts in both countries said Wednesday that the major blackout was a cautionary sign of the dangers of interconnection and showed the vulnerability in Brazil’s transmission system.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/world/americas/12brazil.html?_r=1&hp

[WriteDown]

11. The Olympics are going to be awesome!!!! nt