The GEBE Power Plant experienced a power shortage on Wednesday morning due to an engine tripping at approximately 8:40 a.m.
GEBE technicians struggled to maintain the electricity supply to the community after one of the new generators, Diesel Engine #18, tripped due to low fuel pressure. The disturbance to the grid caused Diesel Engine #16 to fall off line as well which resulted in a loss of some 20 MW causing outages in many districts. GEBE technicians worked diligently to restart the engines as soon as possible to restore electricity to the community.
In addition Diesel Engine #7 developed a fuel leak and had to be shut down immediately in order to prevent a fire from breaking out on the engine. This is the same engine that caught fire in July 2008, and was out of commission for close to one year for repairs and a major overhaul. Electricity was restored at approximately 1:35 p.m.
Later in the day Engines #8 and #10 fell offline, adding to the existing problems, causing another shortage of 7MW which affected the St. Peters, Oysterpond and Belvedere-Dutch Quarter areas. Electricity was restored after approximately 20 minutes.
Several short outages have occurred over the past two weeks as GEBE technicians continue to run the two new 11.3 MW generators at full capacity in order to fully test the performance of the engines during the warranty period. Running the new engines at their full capacity is part of the routine performance testing of new generators.
GEBE would like to apologize for the inconvenience to the community.