Ardhiya transformer fire causes power outage in Farwaniya & Capital regions

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Blackout short at Kuwait airport

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 24: Undersecretary of Ministry of Electricity and Water Eng Mohammad Boushahri revealed that fire broke out in one of the transformers linked to the main power station “Omariya AW” at 1:30 am on Sunday, December 22. He explained that the transformer is located in Ardhiya Industrial Area.

The fire incident resulted in the loss of 185MW of energy, which feeds several areas within Farwaniya Governorate and some areas in Capital Governorate. The affected locations included Ishbiliya, Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, Ardhiya, Shuwaikh Industrial, Rehab, Rabiya, and the Kuwait International Airport. Within ten minutes of the incident, the monitoring centers started transferring the loads to other centers to restore electricity. Power was restored within 40 minutes in all of the affected regions except for some parts of Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh.

The protection systems in the stations prevented the automatic restoration of electricity, thus requiring the presence of electricity emergency teams. Using power generators and other big generators, electricity was returned quickly in more than 90 percent of the facilities that were affected by the blackout. Eng Boushahri revealed that the cause of the fire is yet to be determined. He indicated that the occurrence of faults in the stations is possible, especially since the age of that station in question exceeds 35 years; however, maintenance work is carried out periodically and round the clock to ensure proper power supply.

In response to a question about the power outage in Kuwait International Airport, Eng Boushahri affirmed that the backup generators at the airport were operated to restore electricity, stressing that no generator can bear the huge load at the airport “so what happened was natural”. He revealed that the ministry used 25 electric generators to restore power in some of the locations that suffered power outage, adding that those generators were distributed according to the current situation on the ground after the fire.

Meanwhile, Acting Deputy Director General for Kuwait International Airport Affairs in Directorate General for Civil Aviation Eng Saleh Al-Fadaghi affirmed that the blackout at Kuwait International Airport occurred for a short period, indicating that the technical work teams dealt with the situation in accordance with the emergency protocol. In a press statement, he said the air navigation movement at Kuwait International Airport was not disrupted, stressing that the effect of the power outage was limited to one of the passenger buildings and occurred for a short time.

By Muhammad Ghanem Al-Seyassah Staff

This news has been read 17584 times!