Thousands of city residents in Port Moresby will continue to endure the water rationing and power load shedding for an indefinite period.
According to PNG Power Limited, the system operations team reported that power load shedding will continue in the city until the blockage at the Rauna power station, caused by the recent heavy rains, is fully cleared.
That work is ongoing with no confirmation yet as to when it will be completed because the blockage is quite big.
The power company stated that the blockage was caused by huge boulders and debris that were washed down from the PNG Power owned Sirinumu Dam further up in the mountains, during the recent flooding caused by the heavy rains.
The debris clustered at the filters of the massive intake tanks that hold the water that is channeled at highspeed to turns the turbines, which then generates electricity.
Therefore, the operation to clear those areas will need equipment to do so and it will need time, especially when rain continues to fall up in the mountains of Sogeri in the Central province.
PNG Power stated that the concern now is that if those boulders managed to get into the turbines, then it could cause massive damages to it, resulting in a possible total disruption to power supply from Rauna.
Therefore, this cleanup is vital. Meanwhile, the water supply to the city is also affected because Water PNG Limited depends on the PNG Power water supply connection that feeds the turbines and when there is a blockage, the water supply is stopped to allow the cleaning to take place, and when this happens Water PNG has no choice but to wait.