Urgent repair, maintenance and upgrade works affecting supply of power in Western Viti Levu on Sunday

There could be power disruptions in the Western Division on Sunday due to the urgent repair, maintenance and upgrade works in the division.

Energy Fiji Limited says to enable them to undertake the works, they will de-energise the 132kV transmission line that transmits power from the Nadarivatu Switchyard to the Vuda Substation from 4am to 5pm on Sunday 1st May, 2022 to allow EFL teams to carry out the necessary works.

During this period, EFL will supply electricity from its Diesel Power Stations at Vuda, Qeleloa, Nadi, Sigatoka and Rakiraki to meet the electricity demand of customers in the Western Division from Matanipusi Hill in Serua to Raviravi in Ba and Rakiraki CBD.

Due to the works, power supply to people living in parts of Lautoka (Tomuka, Tavakubu, Saru, Tawatawa and Vaivai), Raviravi Ba to Tavua, whole of Tavua and Nadarivatu, Tavua to Navesau in Rakiraki apart from Rakiraki CBD, will be affected by this planned repair, maintenance and upgrade exercise.

Power supply to the remaining people in the Western Division of Viti Levu should not be affected unless there is a failure of any of the diesel generation sets, or in the event of any unrelated fault on the sub-transmission and distribution network in the Western Division.

EFL says it will do its utmost to ensure that any unplanned power interruptions are kept to a minimum.

The works include :

i. 132kV Vuda Substation - Install strain insulators on the 132kV bus bar, string conductors, assemble and align disconnectors for the two new transformers

ii. 132kV Nadarivatu Switchyard – Change of spring charger motor & controls from AC to DC, annual inspection & maintenance of 132kV equipment and repairs to the damaged optic fibre circuit

iii. 132kV Transmission Line Towers from Nadarivatu Switchyard to the Vuda Substation – carry out urgent repair and maintenance works on the steel lattice transmission towers at Wailoko & Naqele in Sabeto, Nadi and Balevuto in Ba.

iv. New 33kV sub-transmission line from Vuda to Naikabula – installation of five (5) poles for the new 33kV transmission line which necessitates a planned outage on the 33kV Vuda – Rarawai transmission line which will affect power supply to Ba, Tavua, Nadarivatu all the way to Navesau in Rakiraki apart from Rakiraki Central Business District (CBD)

The work at the 132kV Vuda Substation is required to be undertaken in preparation for the connection of the two (2) new 132kV/33kV transformers that were delivered to the site in February 2022. The other repair, maintenance and upgrade works are needed to be executed to ensure reliability and security of power supply to the Western Division of Viti Levu.