Buenos Aires struck by power outages amid intense heat wave

By Bala Chambers

LONDON (AA) - Thousands of people in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires were left without electricity amid a summer heat wave.

According to Telam news agency, on Friday morning, north of the capital was struck by power outages hitting around 150,000 homes and businesses.

In the afternoon, a total of 41,468 users from the Edesur and Edenor electricity companies were without power supply at 2:00 p.m. in different neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Telam reported.

Power outages in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area left more than 75,000 users without electricity as of 5.30 pm Argentine time on Friday, according to local Argentine daily, InfoBae.

In a statement, the National Electricity Regulatory Entity (ENRE) said that "at 2:13 p.m. the 220 kV Ezeiza - Zappalorto High Voltage Line 64 went out of service, affecting the High Voltage Line 640 of 132 kV Zappalorto – Merlo, causing a decrease in demand of 850 MW in the western area of ​​GBA, leaving approximately 300,000 Edenor users without service".

Since the beginning of the week, due to temperatures above 40C, the Argentine electricity grid has experienced increased demand for power during the summer heat wave -- to keep homes and workplaces cool, according the electricity companies Edenor and Edesur.

Due to the heat wave, the National Meteorological Service (SMN) had earlier issued a warning this week in anticipation of "an extreme heat wave," and said that following "the growing demand" for electricity the company are working "to strengthen" their network.

Many homes and businesses were left without power during a heat wave which struck around 700,000 electricity users.