The fire in one of the reactors at the Bateias Substation, in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba (PR), in the early hours of this Tuesday (14), caused the complete shutdown of the facility and generated blackouts in all regions of the country.
Although the official report has not yet been released, the episode raised an alarm about Brazil's dependence on large, centralized infrastructures.
For Heber Galarce, president of INEL (National Institute of Clean Energy), the incident highlights the urgent need to diversify the electricity matrix and decentralize energy generation.
"When an isolated point on the grid causes a national-scale impact, it's a sign that the system is overly dependent on large, centralized infrastructure. Distributed solar generation and local microgeneration could significantly reduce these risks," Galarce assesses.
The executive emphasizes that the expansion of DG (distributed generation) — consisting of solar systems, hybrids, and other sources connected directly to low-voltage grids — could play a strategic role in increasing the resilience of the electrical system.
“DG allows consumers, cooperatives, and companies to generate part of the energy they consume, reducing pressure on the SIN and the extent of blackouts,” explains Galarce.
The director also emphasizes that investing in DG and smart grids is not only an environmental measure, but also a matter of energy security and public interest. "Events like today's show that strengthening DG is essential to ensuring stability, reliability, and autonomy for the Brazilian electricity system," says the president of RING.
Failure affected all regions of the country
The blackout that occurred this Tuesday caused the interruption of approximately 10.000 MW of power, impacting the country's four subsystems—South, Southeast/Central-West, Northeast, and North. According to the Federal Government, the outage began at 0:32 a.m. and power was fully restored by 2:30 a.m.
In a statement, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) reported that the National Electric System Operator (ONS) is expected to complete the Disturbance Analysis Report (RAP) within 30 days. "The MME will continue to monitor the investigation process and will release official updates as the technical work progresses."
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