The Department of Electrical Services (DES), Prime Minister’s Office said that preliminary investigations have traced last Tuesday’s major power outage’s origin to a disruption in the 66kV transmission system, which impacted the upstream power stations in Brunei-Muara, Tutong, and Belait Districts.
The power outage on the morning of October 17 caused widespread disruption, affecting commercial buildings, offices, and businesses.
In a press statement issued Tuesday evening, the DES detailed that resources were immediately deployed to minimise the downtime that began at about 11.30am on October 17. “Supply was restored in stages beginning three hours later at 2.20pm and most customers received the supply at 9.00pm with full restoration accomplished at 2.22am.”
The DES also said that a detailed investigation of the root cause of the failure is currently ongoing, which will among others include the evaluation of the whole lifecycle of the affected component. “DES has done inspections on other similar installations and has taken appropriate actions accordingly,” the statement added.
“DES would like to extend its sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to all affected customers and would like to inform the public that all necessary actions were undertaken in accordance with our safety procedure.
“DES would like to thank members of the public for their kind understanding and cooperation while the Department’s personnel undertake these important mitigation actions”, the statement further added.
DES also reaffirmed its commitment to supplying reliable and continuous power services to its customers.
