Power towers damaged

THE effects of the lightning storm in Port Moresby last Saturday continued to affect power supply in the nation’s capital, PNG Power revealed yesterday.

PNG Power chief executive officer Tony Koiri said apart from the death of a church elder, insulators on several transmission lines around the city and communication equipment in several zone substations were severely damaged.

He said line crews have been out for the last two days inspecting towers to assess the damage and effect repairs.

Koiri said inspections and repair work would take a few days, adding that the delays in restoring power supply were due to delays in detecting the fault and unsafe work conditions due to the lightning activities.

Meanwhile, PNG Power consumers in Lae, Madang and the highlands are advised of a planned shutdown of the Ramu 1 hydro power station, the main generating station on the Ramu grid this weekend.

The shutdown begins on Friday midnight and to midnight Sunday.

Load shedding schedules have been advertised in newspapers and consumers still experiencing power outages can contact PNG Power’s 24-hour call centre on 7198 1000, 7198 1001, 7198 1002 and 7198 1003.