A fire at the El Palmar thermal power plant, in San Sebastián de La Gomera, has caused a general blackout throughout the island -an energy zero-, which has left the inhabitants of the island without electricity since 3:00 a.m., according to the council has reported. At 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, the island was still without power. The Hospital of La Gomera, the port and the airport, however, function normally despite the blackout.
The blackout affects the entire island, so the 15,313 supply points on the island, which has 22,100 inhabitants, lack electricity. At this time, Endesa is working to restore the supply, although it has indicated that it will not be possible to restore it until the afternoon.
The Hospital Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, as well as the port and the airport, function normally despite the blackout of the electricity supply, due to the fact that they have auxiliary motors, as reported this Sunday by the Cabildo de La Gomera.
The causes of the fire are not known, although it is known that it has affected the auxiliary services room of the plant, which has forced it to stop operations as a precaution.
Endesa has reported that the gradual recovery of the electricity service on the island of La Gomera, given the complexity of the operations, will not take place “until late in the afternoon”, once the proper functioning of the generation systems has been verified.
This has been indicated by the Cabildo de La Gomera, which has reported that the first generator sets have already begun to arrive as a result of the zero energy that affects the entire island from 03:00 a.m. due to a fire at the El Palmar thermal power plant, in Saint Sebastian. The Cabildo recalls that Endesa is currently working to restore supply.
For his part, the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has also reported that he is already in contact with the Cabildo, with the State Government and with the supply company, and is monitoring the work to restore the electricity supply .
Fernando Clavijo has clarified that, despite zero energy, essential public services on the island are guaranteed, which function normally. Thus, it is estimated that at this time just over 22,000 people are without electricity.
