Substation explosion and fire cuts power to 100,000 in San Jose suburb

An explosion at around 7:00pm on a Wednesday evening at the Porvenir de Desamparados electrical substation on the south side of San Jose, Costa Rica, triggered a fire inside the facility. The event knocked out power to an estimated 100,000 people for more than six hours across Desamparados, Aserri and several San Jose neighbourhoods. The substation is shared by the Compania Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL), which provides connections to homes and businesses, and its parent company ICE, which is responsible for high voltage in the country. The fire department deployed ten units and 35 firefighters to bring the blaze under control, while around 50 CNFL employees worked on restoration. CNFL restored power to 85% of homes by 1:30am and to 95% by 7:00am the following morning. Nearby homes, electrical lines and one light post were damaged. No injuries or fatalities were reported. Additional police officers were sent into Desamparados during the blackout.

Preliminary assessment pointed to a failure in protective equipment at the substation, with a fuller analysis said to be due the following day.

1. Protective equipment at shared transmission and distribution substations should be subject to regular inspection and testing to reduce the risk of failure.
2. Rapid mobilisation of both fire services and utility restoration crews can shorten outage duration following a substation fire.
3. Clear public communication of restoration progress helps manage community response during large-scale outages, and a substation explosion can damage nearby homes and distribution assets, so cordon and damage assessment should extend beyond the site boundary.

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