Massive Power Outage Disrupts Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area Affecting Over 800,000 Users

At approximately 14:45 on January 15, a failure in the high-voltage network occurred at the Edenor-linked Morón substation, impacting four 220 kV transmission lines and leading to the immediate loss of close to 3,000 MW of capacity. Initial assessments indicate around 800,000 Edenor customers experienced simultaneous power outages, predominantly in northern Buenos Aires neighborhoods such as Palermo, Belgrano, Núñez, and Villa Urquiza, as well as in suburban districts including Vicente López, San Isidro, and Tres de Febrero. The interconnected nature of the grid caused the blackout to extend to approximately 123,000 users of Edesur.

Operators responded swiftly, activating emergency protocols. Within 30 minutes, over 50% of Edenor customers had power restored, and more than 90% recovery was achieved within an hour. At the peak disruption, over a million users were reported affected in the AMBA, making this one of the most severe outages in recent years, notably aggravating the situation amid a heatwave with temperatures reaching 35°C. Critical urban services such as subway lines D and H experienced interruptions or delays, and major roads reported traffic signal failures, compounding public inconvenience. Water supply interruptions in northern and western suburban zones were also reported by AySA, highlighting interdependencies between utilities.

Follow-up data confirmed residual outages affecting approximately 30,000 users hours after the event, with full normalization declared by late evening. The incident adds to a series of similar mass outages recorded since early 2023, reflecting ongoing stresses to the regional grid amid growth in electricity demand and aging infrastructure. Market players and regulators face intensified pressure to invest in grid modernization, resilience measures, and capacity expansion to prevent future large-scale disruptions that risk economic activity and consumer confidence.