As Tropical Cyclone Mal intensifies into category 3, Energy Fiji Limited has revealed that the EFL Cyclone Action Plan is part of their Incident Management Policy.
EFL says the Cyclone Action Plan lists the actions that need to be taken before, during and after a cyclone by the various Strategic Business Units (SBUs) within EFL.
They say each SBU, as part of the Cyclone Action Plan, conducts desktop exercises to simulate the actions that need to be taken in the event of a cyclone.
EFL says the plans are reviewed annually to ensure learnings are captured in the updated document, and communicated to the personnel who are involved in the cyclone restoration work.
EFL further says the Cyclone Action Plan also lists down the priority areas for restoration of power supply following a cyclone event and this includes major hospitals & health centres, water pumping stations, water & sewerage treatment plants (WAF) (for stations without Generator backup), Central Business Districts, Commercial & Industrial Areas, and residential areas.
They say every effort is made by Action Centre Team Leaders to ensure that everything is clearly identified and programmed for priority action.
However, EFL says before they can commence restoration of power supply to customers, they need to ensure that their generating stations, transmission lines, sub-transmission lines and distribution lines are in safe operational order.
They say to this effect a helicopter is reserved by EFL immediately upon the declaration of a Cyclone Warning to patrol the main 132,000volts (132kV) transmission lines and the 33,000volts (33kV) sub-transmission lines in Viti Levu once the cyclone has passed and the weather permits.
