NewsWhore
09-11-2009, 06:20 PM
The new administrator of the State-owned Electricity Companies (CDEEE), Celso Marranzini is well aware of the fact that the country's electricity system depends on old generators, is weak and that all consumers must be made to pay for the service they receive. If not, nothing will change.
After barely three weeks on the job, Marranzini told Hoy reporters that investigators are fairly sure that the nationwide blackout that greeted his first week in office was the result of management error at the AES-Andres substation.
In an interesting technical explanation, Marranzini revealed that this type of failure is common in systems whose protective mechanisms are "unbalanced" because some of the generators violated resolutions from the Superintendent of Electricity on the frequency of their operations. He said that this might not happen now, "but this is a very weak system.
In 2007 and 2008 there were no nationwide blackouts. In 2005, 10 such blackouts were registered, and so far in 2009 there have been 2, but measures have been taken to ensure this does not happen again", he told reporters.
Marranzini reported that the generators are supplying between 80% and 83% of demand, but "undoubtedly one has to understand that during these hot months the demand is greater.
He said that the energy sector has an immediate financial problem, not a generation problem. Since a lot of people do not pay, there is not enough money to repay the debts with the generators. Marranzini said that one of his goals is to increase collections by 2% or 3% monthly, although he admitted that this was going to be difficult.
As he put it: "Stealing electricity is a national sport." With this in mind, he said that the authorities have to enforce the law that penalizes energy theft as a way of preventing losses by the distributors. "Putting 10 people in jail for stealing electricity will make everyone pay", he declared.
But he said that generation is a problem. Over the last 7 years only 50 megawatts of new generation have been added to the system, making the system dependent on old generators.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
After barely three weeks on the job, Marranzini told Hoy reporters that investigators are fairly sure that the nationwide blackout that greeted his first week in office was the result of management error at the AES-Andres substation.
In an interesting technical explanation, Marranzini revealed that this type of failure is common in systems whose protective mechanisms are "unbalanced" because some of the generators violated resolutions from the Superintendent of Electricity on the frequency of their operations. He said that this might not happen now, "but this is a very weak system.
In 2007 and 2008 there were no nationwide blackouts. In 2005, 10 such blackouts were registered, and so far in 2009 there have been 2, but measures have been taken to ensure this does not happen again", he told reporters.
Marranzini reported that the generators are supplying between 80% and 83% of demand, but "undoubtedly one has to understand that during these hot months the demand is greater.
He said that the energy sector has an immediate financial problem, not a generation problem. Since a lot of people do not pay, there is not enough money to repay the debts with the generators. Marranzini said that one of his goals is to increase collections by 2% or 3% monthly, although he admitted that this was going to be difficult.
As he put it: "Stealing electricity is a national sport." With this in mind, he said that the authorities have to enforce the law that penalizes energy theft as a way of preventing losses by the distributors. "Putting 10 people in jail for stealing electricity will make everyone pay", he declared.
But he said that generation is a problem. Over the last 7 years only 50 megawatts of new generation have been added to the system, making the system dependent on old generators.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)