Tonga Power Limited can’t rule out that last week’s widespread blackout in Tongatapu will stop as it blames the outages on a generator controller.
Tonga Power customers were outraged at the disruptions they had to endure last week apparently due to a problem with the integration of CoMaps controllers with the diesel gensets.
The CoMaps controllers which are designed to manage power generation from various sources including wind, solar, and diesel, failed to adapt to different weather conditions like rainy, sunny, and cloudy days and so caused the system to power out.
Tonga Power said in a media release that a CoMaps controller specialist from New Zealand is now helping to review the problem and train the power station engineer. Tonga Power is expecting support from the Government too.
“We cannot guarantee the absence of further power outages during this resolution period,” Tonga Power said in the media release.
In 2023, the corrosive ash residue from the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai volcanic eruption was reportedly destroying Tongatapu’s new High Voltage network.
Despite the state-owned enterprise’s ambitious targets to generate 50% of Tonga’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and 70% by 2030, it continues to disappoint its customers with the frequent power outages.
These power disruptions are also well known to local businesses and homes to be one of the main causes of damages to electrical appliances and equipment.