Brazil Grid Loses 191 Towers to Storms
Brazil's grid operator ONS says 191 high-voltage transmission towers fell since 26 July as storms hit, and the national grid kept operating. The post Brazil Grid Loses 191 Towers to Storms appeared first on The Rio Times .
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Brazil’s grid operator says 191 high-voltage transmission towers have fallen since 26 July. It says the national grid kept operating through the storms.
Brazil’s national grid operator says 191 high-voltage transmission towers have fallen since 26 July. The operator, ONS, says the grid stayed in operation.
More than 100 further towers on smaller 138 kV lines also fell, ONS said. NOAA, the US weather agency, expects a strong to very strong El Niño into early 2027.
Valter Cardeal, ONS operations director, said 191 towers on 230 kV to 500 kV lines fell between 26 July and 21 October. He said more than 100 towers on 138 kV lines also came down, Agência iNFRA reported.
He spoke on Wednesday, 21 October, at the second ONS operations quality awards in Rio de Janeiro. He blamed weather events for the falls.
Cardeal said the events show the resilience of the national grid, known as the SIN. It kept operating thanks to the work of ONS and the transmission companies, he said.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said on Thursday, 8 October, that El Niño continues to strengthen. It sees a strong to very strong event likely through January to March 2027, with chances above 83%.
The center put the chance of a historic event, stronger than any since 1950, at 83% for October to December. Its next update is scheduled for Thursday, 12 November.
US investors in Brazilian power companies should expect repair work and local outages after storms. ONS says the grid stayed operational, and NOAA’s outlook points to more weather risk into early 2027.
Background is in earlier reports on El Niño, soybeans and the grid , the second emergency grid cut and the yellow tariff flag . Travellers to southern Brazil should expect storm disruption.
ONS’s own statement could not be opened, so the tower counts rest on Agência iNFRA’s report of Cardeal’s remarks. The report does not say where the towers fell, how many customers lost power or what the repairs cost.
Agência iNFRA cites weather events, and the sources opened do not tie the falls to El Niño. Whether more towers will fall is not known.
ONS says 191 towers on 230 kV to 500 kV lines fell between 26 July and 21 October. More than 100 towers on 138 kV lines also came down.
ONS says the national grid kept operating thanks to its work and that of its agents. The report does not give a count of affected customers.
Agência iNFRA cites weather events and does not name El Niño. NOAA separately expects a strong to very strong El Niño into early 2027.
NOAA says a strong to very strong El Niño is likely through January to March 2027, with chances above 83%. Its next update is due on 12 November.
ONS, the Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico, is the operator that runs Brazil’s national interconnected power grid. Its operations director is Valter Cardeal.
Sources: Agência iNFRA, 21 October ; NOAA Climate Prediction Center, ENSO Diagnostic Discussion, 8 October ; ONS (all accessed 22 October 2026).
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