Well, at least since the commissioning of the East-West power grid last November, but has there ever been a case of 90% of the state experiencing electrical power failure at the same time?

Here’s my experience, all times are approximate.

21 April 2008

1840 - was looking forward to a well-earned restful evening at home in Penampang after a hard day’s work when the lights suddenly flickered, then dimmed, then died. Experience told me that this usually means bad news, i.e. it could take a very long time to fix.

2000 - apparently the time when power failure first started at the data centre.

2045 - my brother in Tamparuli is listening to the radio and said many complaints can be heard. RTM calls SESB but can’t get through.

2100 - the lights lit up for about 1 second, then died again.

2105 - it’s been more than 2 hours of darkness at my house, and I’m starting to get worried about my place of work - where computers are supposed to be on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year forever. The diesel generators will only last a certain number of hours before they run out of fuel. And the magnetic doors, backup batteries… I was sure I would not be able to sleep if I didn’t sort this one out.

2109 - informed my 3 lieutenants to drop by at the server room and if necessary shut down the equipments.

2156 - informed by a member of the media that there was a power trip at the 132KV Inanam-Karambunai transmission line that caused all power stations in Sabah to stop functioning. This caused an electrical power loss of 500 Megawatts (that’s a mind-blowing 500,000,000 watts!) i.e. 90% of the electricity needs of 2 million Sabahans. The whole of Sabah are in darkness, except the lucky five (they have their own power supply): Keningau, Beaufort, Sipitang, Ranau, Telupid. Power restored in stages by SESB starting 7.30pm. As at 2138, 50% of Sabah has had power restored including Sandakan and Tawau. All other areas should have power restored shortly.

2227 - received report from my guys that electrical supply had been restored at the datacentre building, and that they’re not going to shutdown the equipments just yet, but going to hang around a bit just to be sure. Tamparuli also OK already.

2245 - apparently, by this time 90% of those experiencing outage have had power restored.

2300 - power failed again at the data centre. The guys set scheduled shutdown for 0300, which later turned out to be unnecessary, as power remained stable after 0130.

2340 - i was informed that by now, power was restored in some parts of Penampang.

22nd April 2008

0030 - the engineers went home, leaving the graveyard shift guys on the lookout. The generators still had enough fuel to last quite a few more hours, so further check will be done after daybreak.

0130 - power fully restored at the data centre.

0230 - the apparent time that electricity at my part of Penampang was restored.

1112 - my brother in Tamparuli reported that there was a brief power outage.

1152 - contact in the media informed that the actual cause of the incident is the collapse of a 132KV transmission tower at Kg Numbak, Inanam, where a scrap metal thief took steel pieces holding together the tower. In other words, because of one person, the whole state was affected! Could this be the work of a syabu addict squatter in Inanam?

1615 - The Star reported that 300,000 consumers were affected. SESB MD Baharin Din told a PC that:
- vandals removed 20 steel pieces at Suang Parai, valued at RM40.
- a tower costs RM400K; located between Kayu Madang and UMS.
- collapse led to a power trip & caused domino effect: tripped all SESB and IPP plants connected to the various grids.
- domino effect cannot be stopped cos a mechanism to do so can only be done if there is an excess of power supply; now we have just enough power to meet demand.
- power fully restored 0015.
- temporary tower to be erected within 3 weeks by parent company TNB and help from the army.
- permanent tower will take a further 4 months.
- now situation is fragile: alternative underground 66kV cable.
- 83,000 consumers in Beaufort, Keningau, Tambunan, Tenom, Telupid and Ranau not affected; they are not connected to the grid system; have their own power generation.

I tried to read up on “load shedding” and “power drag” but still don’t get it. Anybody can explain in layman language?

Source
The Star, Daily Express, New Straits Times

Permalink | life in general | |  Email This Post