The polar wave, the electrical system and the World Cup: how the network is preparing to avoid power outages during the match

The massive repetition of behaviors represents a challenge for network operatorstechnicians who work at the Wholesale Electricity Market Administration Company (Cammesa). Every day they must accurately forecast – and with some margin of error – the instantaneous demand, but on game days the team Leo Messi They also have to calculate halftime and the brand new addition of the “hydration break“.

The objective is project how much supply to pour into the grid so as not to cause overloads or leave Argentina without energy. Millions of people going to the bathroom or turning on the kettle at the same moment can disrupt a system.

With 2 of the 3 games played so far the Combined at night, and the confrontation against Cape Verde also outside the busiest working hours, the falling curve in electricity demand It was not as pronounced as in Qatar 2022. It was only clearer on Monday, June 22, when Argentina played Austria.

For the polar cold wave, It is expected that energy consumption this Friday, July 3, will be in full growth during game time eliminatory, although more attenuated than in any other situation.

Demand would begin to grow from 21,395 megawatts (MW) of power at 5 p.m. to 23,262 MW at 6 p.m. From there, in the middle of the preview, the jump will be attenuated and would climb to 23,828 MW at 7 p.m. – start time of the match -, 24,891 at 8 p.m. and 25,829 MW at 9 p.m., when the games would be ending. 90 minutes.

According to a report from Cammesa’s Programming Management, during the match with Austria in the group stage, electricity demand fell by 1,811 MW between the minutes before kickoff and halftime; bounced 1,049 MW in 13 minutes, due to millions of people who went to the bathroom and made a mate or a coffee at recess; It dropped again by 1,300 MW until the end of the game, and increased by 1,854 MW afterwards.

To face the expected variations in demand From one hour before the start of the match and until one hour after, the electrical system operates in “alert condition”, with a “security” dispatch that includes operational measures such as:

In addition, technical operators ordered to increase the energy frequency to address sudden variations without problems.