Riviera Maya, Q.R. — More than two million people were left without electricity Friday in a mass peninsula blackout. According to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), the blackout left over 2.2 million people without power that began Friday afternoon and extended into the nighttime.
Shortly after the power failure, President Claudia Sheinbaum reported “A fault in an electricity transmission line in the southeast caused a blackout in Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo. CFE informs me they are working to restore service in the three states. I will continue reporting.”
A majority of the Yucatan Peninsula was left powerless mid-afternoon with a sudden cut in electricity after nine power plants failed. Shortly after the power outage, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) released a public notice.
“The public is informed that Friday at 2:19 p.m. Central Time, due to maintenance work on the 400 kV LT ESA A3Q20 / A3Q30 TIC lines with 2,174 MW, an electrical failure was recorded that affected 2,262,000 users in the states of Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo.
“As a result of this event, nine power plants in the Southeast, with 16 units, went out of service. Immediately, personnel from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), in coordination with the National Energy Control Center (CENACE), began work to restore service.
“As of 4:10 p.m., the 230 kV lines at the affected substations and the 400 kV lines have been restored, and power has been provided to the cities of Mérida, Valladolid, Cancún, Ciudad del Carmen and Chetumal. Full service will continue to be restored to affected users.”
The Ministry of Energy monitored progress as did Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama. “The CFE reports that a power outage has been identified on the Yucatán Peninsula which has affected service in various areas. CFE specialized personnel, in coordination with CENACE (National Electricity Commission), are already working to restore service as quickly as possible,” she reported Friday afternoon.
President Sheinbaum also continued to provide progress updates as power was reestablished across the Yucatan Peninsula. Friday evening, she posted a progress report on restoration across the state of Quintana Roo.
On Friday night, the CFE reported full restoration to electricity across the entire peninsula.
“The Federal Electricity Commission, with immediate actions, executed strategic maneuvers and remote control for the rapid restoration of electricity supply, in coordination with the Ministry of Energy and the National Energy Control Center in the Yucatan Peninsula, due to the failure that occurred in high-voltage lines at 2:19 p.m., which took nine power plants in the Southeast out of operation with 16 units.
“This has restored 100% service to the 2,276,000 users in the states of Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. The restoration process proceeded as follows:
16% of affected users had their service restored within 57 minutes.
At 26.5% in 2 hours 40 minutes.
At 48 in 3 hours 41 minutes.
At 63% in 4 hours 41 minutes.
At 100% in 6 hours 21 minutes.
“We will conduct the necessary technical analysis to determine the root cause and prevent recurrence of such events, in order to comply with the instructions of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and inform the public accordingly.
“The CFE reaffirms its commitment in these types of contingencies to restore power to affected users as quickly as possible, ensuring the safety of its staff and the public.”
