Christmas Eve blackout hits much of Panama

The Christmas Eve partial blackout that affected the provinces of Panama, Panama Oeste, Colón, and Coclé, among others, was due to a failure of a bank of capacitors – a device used to regulate voltage – in a substation in Panama City.

The electrical failure affected payment and communications systems in the shopping center premises and left many areas without water.

Carlos Mosquera Castillo, general manager of the Electric Transmission Company, SA (Etesa), said that starting at 10:00 am this Sunday an “event” occurred in the Condado del Rey substation.

“We are collecting all the information to analyze why the trainer failed and why that failure had such an impact on the system,” said Mosquera Castillo.

The general manager of Etesa made it clear that “we have a well-established maintenance plan” and that therefore they are going to find out what happened.

“We have had absolute control of the system for many years and that is why we have to evaluate what happened carefully,” he noted. He added that the contingency plan is active, which will remain in place until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, through its X account, the National Public Services Authority reported that it monitors the incidents reported by users and concessionaires of the electrical service that affects the capital and the province of Colón. “Our personnel closely supervises the work to guarantee energy supply,” said the entity.