Happened around 1:15 am EST in Caracas. Power was slowly coming back to certain areas and this show happened.
No injured or dead. Unconfirmed reports say that the three transformers of the substation are gone. I have no idea who many people will be affected by this, but I would not be surprised if it reaches six figures. And I guess it will take months to have it fixed.
At a power plant I worked at, we had a large transformer fail catastrophically, if not as spectacularly. Fortunately we had a spare and were back on line in a couple of weeks. However, transformers of that size are not maintained in inventory by manufacturers, and the lead time for a new one is about 18 months. No idea the size or spares situation for these transformers, but with Venezuela’s foreign exchange problems, getting replacements from Europe or Canada (no way Maduro would accept them from the U.S.) could take years.
I fear your estimate might be right… if it gets fixed at all.
I couldn’t tell the size of the failed transformers, but I agree, if they need to order a replacement from the manufacturer, the ETA is most like “not in Maduro’s lifetime” (or 18 months, whichever comes later).
Re getting them from the US … Nationally we’re not exactly flush with spares at the moment, especially the large long-haul-transmission ones in the big substations. All else aside I’d be rather unhappy if we started giving those away.