It was anticipated that the efforts to fully restore the service concluded around 11:00 PM.
The National Energy Control Center (Cenace) announced a situation of Operational Emergency State in the National Interconnected System starting at 5:04 PM on May 7, 2024, which has generated blackouts in various regions of the country due to high energy consumption. This event caused interruptions in the electricity supply in major cities such as Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, León, Querétaro, and Mérida throughout the afternoon.
These are some of the images collected on social networks where users reported that the electricity service was intermittent, showing large regions of houses affected by the blackouts. Although the restoration or control of the situation has been announced, there is fear that it may happen again due to rising temperatures.
The emergency was activated after reaching a maximum demand of 48,472 megawatts at 5:00 PM, contrasting with a generation of 48,403 megawatts. Although the system briefly returned to normal at 5:52 PM, Cenace issued a new alert at night due to the decrease in the operational reserve below 3%. It was anticipated that the efforts to fully restore the service concluded around 11:00 PM on the same day.
This incident affected not only the aforementioned metropolises but also other areas of the country, including states such as Chiapas, Michoacán, Veracruz, San Luis Potosí, State of Mexico, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Campeche, and Zacatecas. Reports indicate power supply drops after the declaration of Operational Alert State in the national infrastructure at 4:30 PM, followed by the emergency a few hours later.
Specifically, in the capital of the country, boroughs such as Azcapotzalco, Gustavo A. Madero, and Iztapalapa experienced significant cuts. Likewise, in San Luis Potosí; Ciudad Valles, Tamuin, and Ébano reported damages. In the state of Hidalgo, the metropolitan area of Pachuca was one of the hardest hits, along with neighboring municipalities such as Mineral del Monte, Zempoala, and Tizayuca. In Zacatecas, several neighborhoods faced fluctuations in the electricity supply.
This type of emergency is common in seasons of thermal extremes, either due to the increased use of heating or air conditioning systems due to adverse weather conditions, including phenomena such as hurricanes or heatwaves. Cenace continuously prepares to mitigate these events, trying to minimize the impact on the population and maintaining active preventive measures.
Source: Infobae
