SANTO DOMINGO – A “manual disconnection” caused the massive blackout that the Dominican Republic experienced two weeks ago, a report from energy authorities revealed on Wednesday.
On November 11, the country, including the tourist resort of Punta Cana, went dark for five hours. Electricity was fully restored during the early hours of the next day.
“Successive events”
A “chain of successive events” was recorded in an electrical substation in which a “manual disconnection of a line that was still energized” occurred, says the report issued by the Coordinating Body of the National Interconnected Electrical System.
“This event generated a high-intensity short circuit that immediately activated the protection systems,” which deactivated several nearby lines to isolate the fault, the investigation adds.
The agency proposed protective measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
The power outage generated chaos in the streets of Santo Domingo. There was evacuation of subway users and traffic lights were turned off. In the neighborhoods of Santiago (north) and San Pedro de Macorís (southeast), protests were recorded around dawn.
In recent months, citizens have reported frequent blackouts in the Dominican Republic that can last up to 10 hours. Lack of maintenance, breakdowns, illegal connections and late payment by users appear among the causes.
