- READ MORE: Solar storm approaching within hours could lead to worldwide power outages
More than 1.4 million people in Puerto Rico were suddenly plunged into darkness on Wednesday following a widespread power outage across the whole island.
Local power authorities reported a system breakdown at approximately 12:40 pm—coinciding with a intense geomagnetic storm impacting our planet.
A geomagnetic storm is a brief disturbance Due to a significant eruption of solar plasma, often originating from a coronal mass ejection on the Sun, this can lead to disturbances in Earth's magnetic field.
Dr Tamitha Skov, an independent space weather scientist, stated that the blackout happened almost at the same time as the geomagnetic storm intensified to G4 levels.
A G4 geomagnetic storm—which ranks as severe on a scale ranging from G1 to G5—has the potential to disrupt power grids by generating geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) that could lead to issues. exceed capacity limits of transformers and other vital equipment .
Authorities cautioned on Wednesday that the storm might interfere with the control of electrical power distribution throughout the grid, possibly causing automatic safeguard mechanisms to inadvertently disconnect sections of the network.
Josué Colón, Puerto Rico's energy chief and former executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, explained that all generators shut down after a failure in the transmission system, even though only one should have entered protective mode.
'This added stress from GICs likely worsened an already fragile system, especially with power usage near peak levels in the middle of the day,' Dr. Skov added.
Luma Energy, the company responsible for overseeing transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico, said it restore 90 percent of residents' power as of Thursday.
Dr Skov said Luma Energy could determine if the solar storm caused the blackout by checking if geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) overloaded the grid with 'green energy.'
Has reached out to Luma for their input.
On Wednesday, key power stations throughout Puerto Rico started closing down following a breakdown in a transmission line.
The unexpected power failure led to refrigerators ceasing operation, air conditioners becoming quiet, and traffic lights turning off.
Many enterprises, even the biggest shopping center in the Caribbean, had to shut down.
Hospitals and Puerto Rico’s principal international airport turned to their emergency generator systems, whilst scores of travelers aboard a quick-transit train servicing San Juan had to be led off the train via footpaths alongside the railway lines.
The authorities are still probing the precise reason for the power outage. Governor Jenniffer González mentioned that officials are looking into whether multiple circuit breakers either did not trip correctly or perhaps blew up.
A different hypothesis suggests that excessive plant growth might have obstructed power lines, leading to the transmission disruption. Luma Energy has the duty to carry out routine airborne examinations to confirm that transmission lines remain free from vegetation interference.
Pedro Meléndez, an engineer from Luma, stated at a press briefing on Thursday that the particular transmission line implicated in the malfunction had undergone inspection only the previous week as part of regular overhead monitoring which spans more than 4,000 kilometers of lines throughout the region. "There were no signs of immediate danger," according to Meléndez.
The solar storm started on Tuesday, escalating to a moderate G2 intensity during the night.
The next day, NOAA released a serious geomagnetic storm warning, advising that the occurrence might lead to problems with voltage regulation and disturbances in GPS signals .
By Wednesday night, numerous Americans were starting to encounter issues with their GPS devices.
Customers noted that although their systems were functioning properly during the early part of the day, they grew progressively less dependable as the night progressed.
In the meantime, SANSA announced that the solar storm had impacted satellite navigation systems within the country.
The NOAA continued its space weather alert until Thursday, expecting mild geomagnetic disturbances to continue.
'The agency stated that minor, slight variations in the power grid could happen, particularly in areas with higher latitudes.' Auroras could appear in regions such as Canada and Alaska.
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