Brazil to strengthen power supply during FIFA World Cup

Brazil's Electricity Sector Monitoring Committee (CMSE) announced special operational measures to ensure that the country will not have problems with its energy supply during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, which begins on June 14, official sources said.

One of the measures announced by the CMSE, which evaluates the conditions of electricity supply throughout the country, is to increase operational security of the National Interconnected System (SIN) during the Brazilian team's matches in the World Cup, for which a special operation will be carried out, reports Efe.

The operation will begin two hours before and end two hours after the Brazil matches, and other important events, such as the opening ceremony and the final match, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The objective is to reinforce the power supply during the World Cup and avoid possible blackouts, as occurred in March 2017 when 13 states in the north and northeast of Brazil were affected and more than 70 million people were left without electricity.

According to the statement, other measures aimed to increase the security of the system are to have a greater number of energy-generating units synchronized with the hydroelectric system and to reinforce the shift teams in strategic installations.

Brazil, five-time World Cup champion and one of the favourites to win the 2018 World Cup Russia, will play its first match on June 17 against Switzerland in the city of Rostov-on-Don.

--IANS

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