Chile at risk for electrical blackouts due to fragile transmission system

Chile still has risks of disruption to their central electrical system due to the persistent weakness of the transmission and distribution infrastructure, said Friday Reuters Energy Minister Rodrigo Alvarez. “It’s a real risk (…). Even if today we had a huge amount of water in our reservoirs, there could be a possible risk of a brownout or blackout because that is more subject to problems in the transmission system of distribution” said Alvarez in a telephone interview. Although the minister did not specify what the problems were, the authorities have stressed the need to modernize old equipment, especially after three massive blackouts that affected different parts of the country after the powerful earthquake in early 2010. Read Article