More than 130,000 users continue without electricity in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area in the midst of the heat wave and after a Monday in which a new peak in electricity consumption was reached, with a record demand of 29,105 MW.
At 4:00 p.m. this Tuesday, March 14, with a thermal sensation of 42.2 degrees Celsius, 185,232 users did not have electricity service in the City and the Buenos Aires suburbs. At 23:50 the figure decreased, although not much. The number remained huge with a total of 136,697 affected. Edesur contributed 123,490 and Edenor about 13,207.
Also read: Heat wave in Buenos Aires: how will the temperature be TODAY and when it rains
This number of users without electricity exceeds the peak that occurred this Monday, when a record for electricity demand was reached and 135,590 users were without electricity. In the early hours of Tuesday, the number of blackouts began to increase in different neighborhoods of the Federal Capital and the province of Buenos Aires and the situation spilled over around noon.
At 11:00 a.m. a floor of around 44,000 users without electricity was reached, and from that moment the number of cuts increased throughout the AMBA. The peak was reached at 2:30 p.m., when more than 120,000 users were without power.
The most important sources of neighborhoods without electricity occur in the south of the suburbs: Lomas de Zamora, Temperley, Banfield, Monte Grande, Luis Guillón, Llavallol, Ezeiza and San Francisco Solano are the towns that continue without electricity.
The map of power outages in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires. (Photo: Capture ENRE).
During the first hours of Tuesday, even with the supply cuts, the high electricity demand continued to rise: 27,679 MW at 2:05 p.m., very close to the record that was registered last Monday.
According to data from the wholesale electricity market administrator company, CAMMESA, this Monday a new all-time high in energy consumption was recorded. At 15:28, the SADI power demand reached 29,105 MW.
In this way, it surpassed the previous record reached on Friday, March 10 (28,562 MW). Meanwhile, only in the AMBA region, at 15:25 a new maximum of 11,217 MW was reached.
On Saturday March 11, for the first time in its history, CABA exceeded the maximum heat wave temperature threshold for 12 consecutive days. The previous record was from 2017 with 11 days. As reported by the National Meteorological Service (SMN), that day the temperature was 38.6 °C, the highest for March since 1906.
Also read: Heat wave in Buenos Aires: there is still a week of high temperatures ahead
Power outages: which neighborhoods in CABA are without service
The neighborhoods of CABA most affected by the lack of light (low and high voltage) are the following:
Patricios ParkFloresFlorestaCaballitoLa PaternalAlmagroChacabuco ParkFloresSan CristóbalBoedoBelgranoVilla DevotoMataderosLiniersVilla LuganoRecoletaVilla Crespo.
The demand for electrical energy remains high in the midst of the heat wave that does not let up. (Photo Cammesa)
Power outages: which suburban neighborhoods are without electricity
The districts of the Buenos Aires suburbs most affected by power cuts (low and high voltage) are the following:
AvellanedaLomas de ZamoraAlmirante BrownCañuelasEzeizaLa MatanzaMerloMorenoTres de FebreroEscobarSan MiguelVicente LópezHurlinghamJosé C. PazMalvinas ArgentinasFlorencio VarelaQuilmesLanúsLomas de Zamora