Two Power Plants Restore Power after Tuesday's Major Blackout in Venezuela

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The major power outage that hit at least 40% percent of Venezuela on Tuesday April 29, 2008, affected 13 states and the capital for nearly five hours, causing high-tension power lines to overheat. This forced Unit 2 at Planta Centro and two of the Guri hydroelectric power plant's powerhouses offline. The outage presumably was caused by a forest fire in Guarico State.

Unit 2 at Planta Centro had been the only unit available at the time. For details, view related October 11, 2007, article - Venezuela's Planta Centro Running At 12% Of Total Capacity. The outage originated near the Guri hydroelectric dam in eastern Venezuela at the end of the three 765-kilovolt transmission lines toward La Horqueta and Arenosa substations at the exit of the San Jeronimo Substation.

The unit was brought back online on Wednesday morning, April 30, 2008, with 200 megawatts (MW) of capacity. According to plant officials, the unit will increase its load gradually to reach its current maximum of 230 MW. This unit is de-rated at 57.7%, capable of generating 230 MW at most of its total 400 MW. Eight burners are unavailable because of problems with the control system. The spare parts are expected on May 2, 2008.

The power outage also resulted in the halting of activities in the Guri hydroelectric power plant (10,000 MW), which provides more than 70% of Venezuela's total power. Its activities were automatically suspended until the problem was solved, around midnight.

Power was gradually restored by Tuesday night to about half of Venezuela.

View Plant Profile - 1073034 1072527

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.