'We were not charged in Chile for two blocks of investigation': ISA CEO regarding the blackout a year ago
Jorge Carrillo, president of ISA, speaks about the Chile blackout. Photo: Courtesy: Miltón Díaz, El Tiempo
TL;DR
- ISA's president, Jorge Carrillo, is challenging a $14.4 million fine imposed by Chile's Superintendencia following a 14-hour blackout.
- Carrillo states ISA's role was confined to the initial 44 minutes, involving a failure in a communication system that misinterpreted protection signals, leading to an energy flow interruption.
- The blackout's investigation covers three phases: the initial fault, the country-wide propagation, and service restoration, with ISA not charged for the latter two.
- The article discusses the increased complexity of managing power grids with significant renewable energy integration, citing examples from Spain, France, and Portugal.
- ISA claims its communication system was advanced, and the confusion arose from a system "confusing" voltage issues due to the communication failure, similar to a home router malfunctioning.
- ISA corrected the issue after diagnosis within 44 minutes and awaited authorization from the system coordinator to restore power.