The Argentine Interconnection System (Spanish: ''Sistema Argentino de Interconexión'', SADI) is a

wide area synchronous grid A wide area synchronous grid (also called an "interconnection" in North America) is a three-phase electric power grid that has regional scale or greater that operates at a synchronized utility frequency and is electrically tied together during no ...

that links the regional networks of all Argentinian provinces, with the exception of

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

. It is also connected to the power grids of several neighboring countries. The network is long, of which represent 500 kV

power lines Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...

. These power lines are operated by

Transener Transener ( BCBATRAN is the leading Argentine company in the transmission of extra high voltage electric power. The company owns the national extra high voltage transmission network, comprising almost 8,800 kilometers (5,500 mi) of transmiss ...

History

The interconnection system began by including

transmission lines In electrical engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable or other structure designed to conduct electromagnetic waves in a contained manner. The term applies when the conductors are long enough that the wave nature of the transmis ...

and substations built by AyEE, HIDRONOR and others constructed by private initiative. Those lines primarily linked the

generation A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and gr ...

centers distributed along the country with the major consumption center in the

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...

area. In 1947, the General Direction of Water and Electric Power was created by presidential decree, with the task of planning, construction and operation of electrical power plants, transmission lines and substations. In 1960, Act 15336 (Electric Energy Law) is approved, recognizing a "National Interconnection Network" that would integrate all the country's regional networks. This would change the jurisdiction of those networks from a

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

to a national control. This new national network would be controlled by a new organism to be created, the Federal Council of Electric Power, under the national Energy & Fuel Secretary structure. This new organism would have representatives of the

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...

as well as the provinces and the

City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...

, intending to unify criteria and not only satisfy the interests of Buenos Aires. In 1991, the State Reform law brought privatization for the energy companies, creating a new regulatory framework for the energy and utilities sector. This would be included in the 24065 Act, which created the Wholesale Energy Market and the National Electricity Regulatory Entity (ENRE). It also creates a new public entity to regulate the Interconnection, the National Cargoes Dispatch (DNDC), which would incorporate in 1002 in the form of a

sociedad anónima The abbreviation S.A. or SA designates a type of limited company in certain countries, most of which have a Romance languages, Romance language as their official language and employ civil law (legal system), civil law. Originally, shareholders ...

(a private corporation) with the name

Compañía Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Eléctrico Sociedad Anónima CAMMESA (Argentine Wholesale Electricity Market Clearing Company) (Spanish: Compañía Administradora del Mercado Eléctrico Mayorista S.A.) is an Argentinian company which operates the Wholesaling, wholesale energy market of the country. It was ...

(CAMMESA).

Main figures

According to the 2019 annual report by CAMMESA, that year the network showed the following figures:

International links

The system connects to several neighboring countries: * Argentina–Chile ** Interandes: TermoAndes – Chilgener (from 2001 on, AES TermoAndes) * Paraguay–Argentina **

Carlos Antonio López Carlos Antonio López Ynsfrán (November 4, 1792 – September 10, 1862) served as leader of Paraguay from 1841 to 1862. Early life López was born at Manorá (Asunción) on November 4, 1792, as one of eight children. He graduated from Real C ...

(Paraguay) –

Eldorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

(Argentina). 132 kV **

Guarambaré Guarambaré is a town in the Central Department of Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is ...

(Paraguay) – Clorinda (Argentina). 220 kV * Argentina–Uruguay ** Salto Grande Dam (1.890 MW power station) * Argentina–Brasil **

Paso de los Libres Paso de los Libres is a city in the east of the province of Corrientes in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It had about 44,000 inhabitants at the , and is the head town of the department of the same name. The city lies on the right-hand (western) shor ...

–

Uruguaiana Uruguaiana is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located on the eastern shore of the Uruguay River bordering Argentina. Opposite to Uruguaiana, and joined to it by a road/railway bridge, lies the Argentine city of P ...

(50 MW line) ** Rincón – Garabi – Ita I ** Rincón – Garabi – Ita II

2019 Blackout

On 16 June 2019, a large-scale

power outage A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electricit ...

struck most of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, all of

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, and parts of

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. It was caused by an operational misbehavior from

, a

operator in Argentina. A

short circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...

which lowered demand, caused an excess of power generation in the grid, a lack of

synchronization Synchronization is the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. For example, the conductor of an orchestra keeps the orchestra synchronized or ''in time''. Systems that operate with all parts in synchrony are said to be synchronou ...

of power plants, loss of balance, and a low

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

in the network, triggering massive automatic disconnections from the grid. This caused a blackout that, in a matter of 30 seconds, came to affect 50 million users in the

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

References

{{Energy in Argentina Electric power in Argentina Electric power transmission systems in Argentina Electric power infrastructure in Argentina Electric power transmission systems in South America Wide area synchronous grids