A widespread power outage on Friday morning was caused by a malfunction in one of the engines at the BVI Electricity Corporation’s Pockwood Pond plant, Transportation, Works and Utilities Minister Kye Rymer said Friday afternoon.
The malfunction, he explained, occurred at around 9:35 a.m. after a broken control air line “caused an engine to trip, in turn causing two other engines to go offline, and a disruption of power across the territory.”
Repairs were completed and power was restored to the entire territory as of 11:45 a.m., according to the minister.
“I wish to advise the public that I have requested a detailed technical report on the complete circumstances that led to the shutdown of the power plant,” he said. “The purpose of this report will be to identify what steps need to be taken to prevent a reoccurrence of this morning’s incident.”
Mr. Rymer added that unplanned outages expose residents and property to risk, as well as lowering economic productivity and creating “general discomfort.”
“The government, the ministry and BVIEC believe that this is an unacceptable level of service and we take this opportunity to recommit ourselves to improving the quality and reliability of service to the population,” he said. “Given the state of our aged infrastructure, which is still recovering from the natural disasters of 2017, the emergence of modern, more environmentally friendly energy options, and other challenging factors, it is the intention of the government to conduct a comprehensive assessment of our current and future needs, and options for the development of a medium- and longterm solution for providing electric power to the territory.”