Chile's Power Supply Restored After Massive Blackout

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February 26, 2025--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--On Tuesday, a failure in a 500-kilovolt (kV) line in the Chilean region of Arica led to a chain reaction that produced a massive blackout that affected almost the entire country.

The origin of the blackout was the disconnection of the 500-kilovolt (kV) Nueva Maitencillo-Nueva Pan de Azúcar transmission line between Vallenar and Coquimbo, which in turn caused the disconnection of the 500-kV Cardones-Polpaico line and from there a domino effect that led to the disruption of the National Electric System (SEN) that runs between the regions of Arica and Parinacota in northern Chile, and Los Lagos, in the south. The reasons for the failure were still under investigation, although sabotage was ruled out.

Although the affected lines were reconnected Tuesday afternoon, the restoration of electric power was gradual, and reached 100% by mid-morning Wednesday, with occasional brief interruptions.

The blackout affected more than 8 million users, including residential users, businesses and industries. The size of the blackout prompted President Gabriel Boric to declare a state of emergency and a state of siege from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning.

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