Several parts of Singapore plunged into darkness earlier today as the country was hit by widespread blackouts, lasting as long as nearly 40 minutes for some.
As far as blackouts go, this one was pretty serious. According to energy utilities provider SP Group, the power was out in 19 districts in Singapore — from the east (Bedok, Geylang) to the west (Jurong, Boon Lay; from the north (Sembawang, Woodlands) to the central (Ang Mo Kio, Bishan). Street lamps went out, meaning motorists were driving around slowly in the dark.
So i thought my house had the typical blackout, but lo & behold, outside’s affected too! #sgblackout apparently nt just my area! pic.twitter.com/g2zDRvzZof
— ayyzie (@bananachocko) September 17, 2018
Wow the blackout continues… #sgBlackout pic.twitter.com/l6HPZw8ZeT
— Amanda (@apyeongy) September 17, 2018
Electricity supply to parts of the country were disrupted about 1:18am today, said SP Group, who deployed officers to the affected areas to restore power ASAP. About 146,797 residential and commercial customers were affected, the agency confirmed.
Is this a Singapore-wide blackout??? 😦 pic.twitter.com/ZVwJN5WMmS
— Jeng Teng (@jtwonggg) September 17, 2018
It took 38 minutes to get things fixed, and by 1:56am, the electricity supply was fully restored in all areas, noted SP Group. Preliminary findings revealed that the disruption was due to “partial loss of supply” from two power generation units.
Speaker of Parliament and Marine Parade GRC Member of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin remarked that the blackout seems “serious and extensive”, urging the public to stay calm.
The Energy Market Authority seems to agree about the seriousness of the incident, and are currently conducting investigations into the source of the supply disruption.
“The Energy Market Authority takes a serious view of disruptions to Singapore’s electricity supply. We will review the outcome of our investigation before deciding on the actions to take”.
