Honiara faces extended power blackout after major fault at Lungga Power Station
BY NED GAGAHE
Honiara city experienced one of its longest power blackouts in years, following a significant fault on Solomon Power’s 11KV generator at Lungga Power Station.
The unplanned outage, which began on the evening of Thursday, January 16, 2025, left most of the city without power for over 12 hours.
The power failure, which affected the entire city, plunged Honiara into darkness from around 7:00pm Thursday until early Friday morning.
While power was restored to some areas by 7:00, several parts of the city remained without electricity until around 2:30pm on Friday.
Solomon Power responded with a public notice posted on their Facebook page, apologizing for the inconvenience caused and assuring the public that engineers were working on the issue.
The company stated: “We regret to inform you that there has been an unplanned total power blackout affecting all of Honiara due to unforeseen circumstances. Our engineers are now working on it. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding. We will continue to provide restoration progress via Facebook.”
As the situation persisted, Solomon Power informed residents that due to the ongoing fault at the Lungga Power Station, the city was unable to meet its full power demand.
To manage the shortfall, a load-shedding schedule was put into effect.
Solomon Power added that engineers were diligently working to resolve the fault and would continue to provide updates.
Despite assurances, many residents expressed frustration online, with some taking to Facebook to voice their concerns over the extended outage.
One of the longest blackouts in recent memory, the incident has raised questions about the city’s power infrastructure and its resilience in the face of unforeseen failures.
As of yesterday afternoon, engineers were still working on resolving the fault, and Solomon Power has yet to provide a timeline for full restoration.
Residents have been advised to treat all power lines as live at all times, as power will be restored without warning.
Solomon Power has promised to keep the public updated on their progress and thanked residents for their patience and understanding during this challenging period.
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