St John’s Antigua – A sudden power outage plunged several communities across Antigua into darkness tonight after a 50-megawatt power plant unexpectedly shut down. The Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) confirmed the disruption, attributing it to a significant load loss resulting from the shutdown.

Technicians at the Antigua Power Company (APC) quickly began investigating the cause of the fault. According to Plant Manager Ernest George, three engines were in operation at the time the plant went offline.

In response, APC activated its LNG plant generators to restore power. However, following the shutdown, two Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) engines tripped due to being overloaded. Only one engine at Blackpine (dg3) remained operational.

As of now, five engines at the LNG plant have been successfully brought online, and power has been restored to affected areas. In the meantime, the APC continues its efforts to stabilize the grid and investigate the cause of the disruption.