Power supply was disrupted for a short while in thousands of houses in Aluva after two transformer units at the Kalamassery electric substation burst with a flash of light around midnight on Saturday.
The burst resulted in power outages in around 40,000 houses under the Aluva North, Manappuram and parts of the Chowara electrical sections. The normal flow of current through two 110kV feeders from Kalamassery to Aluva was disrupted. Supply of electricity to houses was restored in around half an hour with power drawn from other substations.
Maintenance work at the 220kV Kalamassery substation began early on Sunday morning, and officials said the repairs were likely to be completed the same day.
The cause for the flash in the current and potential transformer units is still being probed. The units are used to measure high voltage and high current. Loss of insulation of the units due to cracks in the insulation system or excess humidity around it could have caused current to flow directly into the ground, resulting in a flash, said a KSEB official. The issue is neither serious nor unusual, and major lines have not been affected, he added.
