An electrical cable fault at the Fiaga Power Station caused Friday night’s island-wide blackout across Upolu, the Electric Power Corporation (EPC) said in a statement issued on Saturday evening.
EPC said the fault occurred in a power cable connected to Generator 2. It disrupted the station’s electrical system and affected other power generators at Fiaga.
The fault was confined to the cable and its connection, while Generator 2’s alternator was not damaged, according to the corporation.
Work is underway to replace the cable and complete the inspections and testing required before the generator can return to service.
At the time of the incident, Fiaga was supplying about 12 megawatts to the Upolu electricity grid. This included about 3MW from Generator 2, 2MW from Generator 3, 4MW from Generator 4 and 3MW from rental generators.
