BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CORPORATE activity in Basseterre and other parts of the island was brought to an abrupt halt when the electricity supply was disrupted reportedly as a result of an “explosion”.
At approximately 10:00 a.m. yesterday (June 16), the electricity supply was disrupted following which SKNVibes received reports that there was “an explosion” that had occurred either within or in proximity to the Power Station located in Needsmust.
On arrival at the Power Station, SKNVibes spoke with Minister with responsibility for Public Works, Utilities, Transport and Posts, Dr. the Hon. Asim Martin, who explained that a fuse on a utility pole just to the front of the Power Station blew out which caused the power outage and the explosion.
“From what I have gathered thus far from the people on the site,…one of the fuses on the pole here had an explosion and that created some problems. The fuse blew out and that created some problems in the Power Station from what I understand.”
Dr. Martin explained that, at that point, he was uncertain as to which areas were without power and when power was likely to return. He however explained that five of the seven engines were offline and the power station staff members were deployed to the field seeking from where the problem originated.
“From what they have told me, there are two engines that are presently on and, because those feeders were not affected, they said some areas in Frigate Bay presently have electricity…As soon as they are able to trace what might have caused the problem, then they would be able to put on the other engines one by one.”
According to the Public Works Minister, a “new protection system” was recently installed at the Power Station which causes the generators to close down when a problem is detected. He said this serves to protect the generators from damage.
“There is no problem in the Power Station. What happened is that because of the mechanism in the protection system we have at the Power Station, whenever there is a problem at the Power Station, outside in the field, it closes down certain of the generators at the Power Station.
“The new protection system which we have put in place, have now protected the engines. So, once there is a problem outside, it closes off certain engines and those engines are closed off. Out of all the problems we have been having last year, we installed a new protection system and it’s a protection in the field and a protection in the Power Station which protects the engines here once there is a problem outside in the field.”
Electricity was restored in the Basseterre area almost two hours after the initial disruption. However, there was further disruption minutes later. At approximately 12:10 p.m., power was again restored and has not been interrupted since.
