An explosion rocked the PowerGen plant in Port-of-Spain yesterday, knocking out power across northern Trinidad, Chaguanas and environs. Employees at the plant were immediately evacuated. No one was injured during the incident.
In a statement, the T&T Electricity Commission said the explosion took place at the switchboard of the PowerGen “B” Power Station at Flament Street. “This occurred while T&TEC was making the transition in preparation for the decommissioning of the Port-of-Spain “B” Power Station.”
The PowerGen plant is scheduled to cease operations tonight and the switch-over is expected to be completed to the Pt Lisas power supply by then. The release said customers were affected in northern parts of the country and engineers were working on restoring supply to customers.
Last week, parts of Port-of-Spain, Diego Martin and western Trinidad were thrown into darkness after a breaker failed at the same plant. Belmont and Gonzales residents complained it was the fourth blackout that has occurred within the past few months.
Customers from Morvant to Cocorite, including Maraval and Santa Cruz, claimed they also lost supply.