The situation in Land of Fire is complex after the reduction of flow in the Fueguino Gasduct, a measure that directly impacts the generation of energy in the three cities of the district, where Neighbors suffer power and water outages scheduled in the middle of a polar wave with extreme temperatures.
The southernmost province of the country faces a week with polar forecast, with temperatures that will remain below zero for the next few days. This scenario generated a significant increase in energy consumption, causing outages in Ushuaia, Río Grande and Tolhuin.
Given this situation, the provincial authorities explained that the peak in energy consumption, together with the low pressure in the gas pipeline that feeds the generators of the Power Plant, forced the Provincial Energy Directorate to establish four-hour cuts per sector.
The province’s Minister of Energy, Alejandro Aguirre, explained: “The gas pressure has fallen to less than 22 bar, when 29 bar is usually required for the normal operation of the system. We are at risk because the alarms are beginning to sound in the plant, and with less than 20 bar the Rolls Royce turbine stops its production immediately.
Water cuts in Ushuaia
Simultaneously, the water company reported that the water treatment plants are operating above their normal capacity. However, the levels of the cisterns are insufficient, affecting the supply in several neighborhoods of Ushuaia. This Tuesday, water cuts were carried out from 10:00 to 12:30 in the neighborhoods of the Andorra Valley and from 12:30 to 18:30 in other neighborhoods. Given this scenario, the authorities asked citizens who are not affected by the cuts to moderate their consumption to collaborate with the situation.
The causes of the cuts
As revealed by the provincial Ministry of Energy, the problem was aggravated by the drastic reduction in gas production by companies operating in the region, especially YPF. In the last weekthe pressure of the gas injected into the Fueguino Gasduct fell more than 70%which directly impacted energy generation throughout the province.
In this sense, the Minister of Energy highlighted: ““Cities are consuming more than twice as much as usual, which has put the gas production system to the limit.”. Added to this situation are technical problems such as the freezing of gas pipelines, affecting the operations of companies such as Total and Roch.
The official also pointed out the disinvestment of YPF in Tierra del Fuegoindicating that the company prioritized its operations in Dead cow, which significantly reduced local gas production. “This disinvestment generated a notable drop in production, clearly reflected in the current supply crisis,” Aguirre stated.
