rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
An independent investigation is still ongoing into the February 16 blackout that plunged the entire island of Trinidad into darkness, lasting up to 12 hours in some parts of the country.
The update came from the head of the independent three-man committee appointed by the office of the Prime Minister, Professor Chandrabhan Sharma.
In a brief phone call, the retired electrical engineering professor told Guardian Media their work was still ongoing but he was not at liberty to say when completion was expected.
Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales told Guardian Media he was unable to provide any details on the committee’s work as it was appointed by and reported directly to the Prime Minister. The team was announced on February 23.
In the release, they were given one month to report their findings on the incident that triggered the blackout and the country’s response to the event.
If the committee was constituted on the date of the announcement, it leaves them just five days to furnish their report.
Alongside Sharma on the expert committee is Structural Engineer and retired UWI Lecture Keith Sirju and acting Superintendent Allister Guevarro who is currently assigned to the Special Branch of the police.
The island-wide blackout has since been the subject of speculation, questions and even anger by the population.
The Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission’s (T&TEC) General Manager Kelvin Ramsook and other Government officials have since sought to explain what transpired. However, the picture still remains unclear for many, especially with all of the technical jargon used.
According to T&TEC, at roughly 12.50 pm, a fault occurred on a major electrical transmission circuit at Gandhi Union circuits 1&2.
The exact cause of the fault is still subject to investigation. However, based on preliminary reports, Minister Gonzales has since dismissed any foul play or sabotage.
The fault disconnected the Trinidad TGU plant from the country’s electricity grid. TGU generates the bulk of electricity to the island, supplying 500 megawatts (MW) of the total 1185 MW on the grid at the time of the incident. Powergen and Trinity were unable to pick up the slack to cope with the national electricity demand, which forced them to also shut down.
“That caused the catastrophic failure that caused the entire island of Trinidad to lose power,” T&TEC’s general manager explained on February 17.
Shortly after, between 1 to 1.30 pm, T&TEC dispatched personnel to fix the fault. However, while they rectified it by 1.30 pm and T&TEC’s technicians were manning all its substations to receive electricity, the IPPs weren’t yet ready to supply. This, the T&TEC general manager said, would not be possible until hours later.
“It was only until 6.50 pm...that we were able to get some degree of capacity in a stable mode at the Penal power station (Powergen),” Ramsook said.
