By Sue-Ann Wayow
AS at 1.05 am on Wednesday morning, areas affected by the power outage stemming from a failed transmission tower in Rousillac were back on supply.
This, with the exception of a small segment at St Lucien Rd and environs in Diego Martin, the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) stated in an updated press release at 1.15 am.
At approximately 7 pm, a major disturbance was experienced in the system after a landslide caused the 220 kV (220,000 volts) transmission tower to shift, putting excess strain on the transmission lines, which led to a break in the tower and the lines.
The affected line brings power from the Trinidad Generation Unlimited (TGU) plant in La Brea to the rest of the grid. Additional generators were brought online by the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to restore supply to the approximately 30% of the customers in Trinidad who were affected T&TEC stated.
Rolling load shedding may be instituted in the early morning as the use of electricity increases.
The Commission is advising customers to conserve electricity to assist in managing the available capacity and reduce the number of forced outages.
Avoiding the use of large appliances like air condition units and dryers is also being recommended.
T&TEC said it has completed a preliminary assessment of the site and infrastructural repairs are expected to commence on Wednesday.
In February, almost the entire country was without electricity for several hours and an investigation was launched into that incident.
