Georgetown :The Guyana Power and Light has reported that the power outages experienced by several areas of Georgetown were caused by a rodent that entered the switchgear and had come into contact with live parts causing failure to several cables in the system.
A release from the agency stated that at approximately 12:15 hrs this morning protective equipment at the 20.7MW plant in Kingston activated causing disruption of power supply in Demerara.
GPL said that after an inspection of the Kingston Power plant to determine the cause of the major shutdown in the City, it was discovered that a rodent had entered the switchgear and had come into contact with live parts.
On identifying the problem, GPL said that all the switchgear were inspected and fully protected before the plant resumed power generation at 02:15hrs.
The release further stated that one of the damaged cables was at the time serving consumers in the Kingston, Cummingsburg, and Lacytown, Thomas Lands and Kitty.
In an attempt to restore power to consumers in Lacytown, via an alternative circuit, GPL said that a switch at the corner of New Market and Main Streets failed, causing a delay in the restoration of power.
With CXC exams being written today, GPL said it decided to delay the replacement of the damaged switch until 15:00hrs.
The release also noted that at 12:45hrs today another failure occurred at the power plant in Kingston as a result of damaged connection feeder but was quickly restored.
GPL noted that all damaged cables were repaired at the power plant and normal supply of power was restored to Kingston, Cummingsburg, and Lacytown, and Kitty.
