Chile’s Power Grid and Copper Mines Recover After Major Outage
Chile’s power grid and copper mines are resuming operations after a major outage caused by a transmission line failure. Most residential electricity has been restored, although some areas still experience intermittent outages. Mining companies such as Escondida and Codelco are gradually returning to normal operations, while the state of emergency and curfew have been lifted.
Chile’s power grid and major copper mines gradually resumed operations on Wednesday morning following a significant outage that affected the country’s electricity supply and global metal markets. The outage was triggered by a transmission line failure in northern Chile, occurring on Tuesday afternoon, which left a substantial portion of the nation in darkness, including key mining operations.
On Wednesday, the National Electricity Coordinator (CEN) reported that over 90% of residential electricity had been restored, although sporadic outages continued in certain areas. Interior Minister Carolina Toha expressed concerns regarding the event, citing failures in safety mechanisms and repeated attempts of power stations to restart that did not succeed.
The incident was tied to energy distributor ISA Interchile, a firm owned by Colombia’s ISA and state oil company Ecopetrol. According to ISA Interchile, investigations are still ongoing, but preliminary findings indicated that failures in electronic and software protective systems resulted in the shutdown of a high-voltage line.
Minister Toha announced the lifting of the official state of emergency and curfew imposed after the outage, noting that only about 220,000 customers remained without power, a significant reduction from the peak where 8 million homes were affected. Major copper mines began recovering, with Escondida, the world’s leading copper mine, anticipated to resume normal operations shortly.
Anglo American announced the restoration of its Los Bronces and El Soldado mines, along with the Chagres smelter. Likewise, Codelco, the largest copper producer globally, confirmed a gradual return to operations across all its divisions. They stated that contingency plans had been enacted in response to the outage’s impact on their production.
Santiago’s public transport system also indicated a return to service across most of its subway lines and stations, reflecting a broader recovery in public services following the incident.
In summary, Chile is recovering from a substantial power outage that disrupted the nation’s electricity supply and major copper production. The swift restoration of power has led to significant improvements, with major mining companies gradually resuming operations. Nonetheless, the incident has raised concerns regarding the reliability of the power grid and safety measures in place to manage such failures in the future.
Original Source: www.mining.com
