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The city, the biggest in the Americas and one of the most populated in the world, has suffered several large-scale power outages in recent months. São Paulo, Brazil’s financial and economic centre, is facing widespread blackouts and disruption to services, with officials warning its grid is facing potential collapse after years of chronic underinvestment. The city, also the biggest in the Americas and one of the most populated in the world, has suffered several large-scale power outages in recent months that have left hundreds of thousands of people without power for days on end. According to the Financial Times (FT), city officials and Brazil’s Federal Government have blamed Italian energy group Enel, which operates São Paulo’s grid, for the blackouts, although others warn that drawn-out underinvestment from the government has wrecked power infrastructure in the city. “It is something very serious. It is very clear that Enel is unable to continue,” Ricardo Nunes, the centre-right mayor of São Paulo, told the FT. He added that he had been told by experts that the city’s grid was at risk of “collapse” within three years if investment was not significantly increased. Last summer, Brazil suffered from widespread, drawn-out power cuts, disrupting services and economic activity across the country and hitting major cities including São Paulo and Salvador. The country lost 16GW of electricity during the blackouts. Days-long blackouts also hit São Paulo in November last year and as recently as last month, disproportionately affecting the region’s poorest areas and causing schools, hospitals and private businesses to close. |
