By The Star Staff
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) on Wednesday reported new failures at the Aguirre Power Plant in Salinas that will delay repairs and, in turn, the stabilization of electrical service on the island.
“The protection system of the emergency transformer at the Aguirre Power Plant was activated, causing the forced exit of Unit 2,” PREPA reported on its Twitter account.
“The repair of this failure will take time and will require the intervention of additional technical personnel,” the utility added.
The new breakdown was an additional setback in efforts to stabilize the island’s power supply, which have been exacerbated by problems at the AES plant in Guayama.
“The technical staff continues with the repair of the coal crushing system, which keeps the unit limited,” PREPA added.
As of midday Wednesday, 102,490 LUMA Energy customers were without electrical service.
The repair work, which involves technical personnel from PREPA and LUMA Energy, does not yet have an estimated completion date.