Huge explosion blacks-out Bermuda
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
A catastrophic explosion at Bermuda's only power plant in the early hours
of last Thursday morning resulted in an Island-wide blackout.
As of Sunday subsequent rolling power cuts continued as the power company’s
staff worked throughout the weekend to get the Island back online for the
current business week.
At an earlier press conference, Belco CEO, Garry Madeiros, said that, fully
operational, the company can produce a maximum of 165 megawatts of electricity
but, as a result of the accident, current production level has been reduced to
85 megawatts.
As to when Bermuda’s power supply would be fully restored, and will be
fully operational once again is still far from certain, Mr Madeiros said at
that time, and that he was “hopeful” the Island would be fully served by last
weekend -- “or perhaps before”.
The precise cause of the explosion has yet to be determined but Belco
engineers suspect that a failure of a safety switch, resulting in a massive
build up of energy is to blame.
According to local media reports, the damage to the transmission board and
the building in which it is housed is severe, with the cost of replacing the
entire structure estimated at close to $10 million.
Seventy-five firefighters are reported to have battled the 800 degree
Fahrenheit temperatures along with thick smoke for eight hours. The heat
buckled thick steel beams and concrete.
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