₦airaland Forum

Today marks a week, Venezuela blackout situation was featured on BBC News. The reporter showed us how most businesses have closed down, medical drug are so expensive that people now seek Spiritists for various treatments , and how it has affected the economy and further weakened the currency (Bolivar) . Don’t forget it has the world’s largest oil reserves. Presently there is a massive blackout in Venezuela affecting at least 18 of its 23 states according to local media. The Government blames an "electromagnetic attack."

What is an electromagnetic attack?
refers to a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse generated when a nuclear weapon is detonated in space, about 30 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. Once the weapon is detonated, an electromagnetic pulse can travel to the Earth’s surface and disrupt a wide variety of technology systems from appliances to a nation’s electric grid. Can also refer to an attack where the perpetrator is seeking secret keys or passwords, but that’s more likely to be directed at portable electronic devices, not electric grids (Shucheng Yu).

Where does Venezuela’s electricity come from?
Venezuela established a national grid built on hydroelectric and thermoelectric power. In 2015, the total electric production reached 117 TWh, of which 64% comes from hydro, 19% gas, 17% from oil (wikipedia.org) .Today, the Guri dam hydroelectric plant in eastern Venezuela supplies about 80% of the country’s electricity.

Is this the first time the country has suffered electricity supply problems?
There have also been problems with the supply from the Guri dam in the past.In 2010, Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, declared an “electricity emergency” after a drought caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon left waters at the dam dangerously low. The major blackout started 7 -14 March, and another July 22, 2019. Since then it became a part of life.

Major Causes of blackout (no electricity)
The causes vary: a series of lightning strikes, a remote software error, poor maintenance, increased demand, climate-change-driven, weather calamities, and even the threat of cyber attack puts infrastructure at greater risk.

What caused the blackout in Venezuela?
According to Rodrigo Linares, a mechanical engineer, the fault possibly caused by a fire, occurred on one of the main power lines between the San Gerónimo B and Malena substations. When that 765KV line went down, two others suffered an overload and also failed. “That basically interrupted the electricity highway and stopped energy reaching consumers” (The Guardian).

Reasons for the blackout in Venezuela?
It depends on who you ask. …….
• The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, accuses the USs of engaging in a “demonic” plot to force him from power by crippling the country’s electricity system with an imperialist “electromagnetic attack”.
• Miguel Lara, former chief of the state-run agency responsible for the electricity system, said that the electrical networks had, in recent years, been underfunded and overexploited. “The control and supervision systems are interconnected and are from the 1990s and have never been updated,” said Lara. “They’re obsolete technology.” Lara said that the advice of qualified engineers had been ignored, causing the network to fall into a dangerous state of disrepair. “The network lines and transformers weren’t looked after and got overgrown with vegetation and that vegetation started to cause failures. It’s poor maintenance and negligence.”
• Experts believe that failure to properly manage the electricity grid may have caused a fire that destroyed one of the huge lines that transport power from the Guri dam to Caracas.

Impact of the blackout on the economy
The lack of electricity in most states of the country as caused disruptions to the rail system, wide spread traffic jam, lost access to running water, difficulty in buying foods, telecom and internet connectivity problems. It has crippled infrastructure as many skilled Venezuelans have fled to Chile, the United States and Canada. The sale of electric generators is one business booming in Venezuela. The world had turned entirely black for them.

I need visa to go there,make I teach them Nigerians ways

dnawah:
I need visa to go there,make I teach them Nigerians ways

Trust me there are worse countries than Nigeria

Edopesin:
Trust me there are worse countries than Nigeria

That's true.Infact i heard someone complaining bitterly about the light situation in Nigeria that's what prompted me to write this post.

dnawah:
I need visa to go there,make I teach them Nigerians ways

Really? Teach us here in Nigeria, let us learn. Abi sense don too much for here ni?