Contractor cuts through three cables, again plunging Gib into darkness

Gibraltar was again plunged into darkness on Tuesday after a contractor working in the area of the North Mole cut through three major cables, causing a Gibraltar-wide blackout lasting several hours.

The incident drew criticism from business representatives and the Opposition, which said the Gibraltar Government must do more to address “avoidable failures” that caused huge disruption for businesses and individuals alike.

The Government said it was taking steps to toughen legislation to ensure tougher sanctions on contractors who did not followed detailed cable maps when drilling into the ground.

The blackout started at around 2pm and GibElec said it would likely be 7pm before it would be able to commence restoring power gradually across the Rock.

Telecommunications networks were also affected and the outage had a heavy impact on businesses.

The Royal Gibraltar Police was also affected, with its phone lines including the 999 emergency number left out of action.

The RGP said set up a temporary number – 56199028 – for anyone needing to contact its control room.

The Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service said it had received a significant number of calls from people trapped in lifts.

All of its appliances were deployed to different locations around the Rock as they responded to the calls, all of which were resolved without further incident.

On Main Street, many traders had little option but to shut shop or await developments as they stood in darkened doorways, while commercial and private flights were diverted from Gibraltar.

GibElec confirmed that the power cut was caused by a contractor going through three main High Voltage Cables, with potential damage to two additional cables also being investigated.

The contractor, SDE Limited, was carrying out work “for the data centre” proposed on a site near the power station.

The data centre, which was announced earlier this month, has yet to secure planning permission from the Development and Planning Commission, and the work related to an “exploratory bore hole” for the architects and design consultants, a Government spokesperson told the Chronicle.

No.6 Convent Place said GibElec had provided detailed maps of the cables in the area, as is standard procedure.

“Testing has commenced to identify the damaged cables and to identify which remaining cables may be used to restore power,” the Gibraltar Government said in a statement.

“Information about restoration will be disseminated as soon as possible, but will be gradual, and delays are expected.”

“Work is ongoing to begin to restore power district by district.”

“GibElec estimates that it will begin to restore power at 7pm.”

No.6 said services at St Bernard's Hospital were unaffected as the hospital's generators were working optimally.

The Minister for Utilities, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, delayed travel to London on Tuesday afternoon to visit the power station and oversee the efforts to restore electricity as soon as possible.

The is the latest such incident to cause widespread blackouts in Gibraltar and the Government reiterated that it was moving ahead with legislation to ensure contractors who cause such disruption face penalties.

The Government said it was already in the advanced stages of considering the implementation of legislation to ensure that contractors can be held to account in situations such as these.

“In recent days the Government has successfully settled a claim for compensation with the contractors who caused a blackout in April this year at the BESS site,” No.6 said in the statement.

“The Government is also actively considering what action can be taken against SDE Limited in relation to today's power cut.”

“Power cuts have a significant impact on public safety and the economy, affecting everything from household appliances to small businesses, to traffic management and the GFRS.”

“The Government takes this opportunity to thank all those who have worked to mitigate the impact of today's power cut and to keep Gibraltar safe.”

Owen Smith, the chairman of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses, said power cuts had “a huge impact” on all businesses, adding that not everyone can afford a generator “especially in the small business space”.

While many businesses had put in place UPS systems to allow them some time to ensure work is saved and computers properly switched off to avoid damage, that was not the case for everyone.

“A lot of this is about lost work, lost time, so the impact is very difficult to quantify but would likely run into hundreds of thousands of pounds,” he said, adding there was little recourse for businesses to seek compensation.

“It’s extremely frustrating that this problem persists and seems unresolvable.”

Mr Smith welcomed the Government’s commitment to toughen legislation to sanction contractors who do not take appropriate steps to avoid damage.

But he added too that this was only part of the solution.

“The other part is to have a robust power grid and that should be a matter of priority,” Mr Smith said, welcoming the Government’s £16.5m investment in a Battery Energy Storage System for the power station which, in the event of a power cut, would provide energy resilience while the problem is resolved.

But while work on the BESS, continues “in earnest”, it would not have helped in this situation given three main interconnected power cables had been cut, a Government spokesperson told the Chronicle. The BESS is, in effect, a backup for the power station generators should any of them trip.

“One would hope that tougher sanctions will help ensure contractors take great care, but accidents happen, especially in a small place like Gibraltar where we build like there’s no tomorrow," Mr Smith added.

“It should be a huge priority to get this sorted once and for all.”

POLITICAL REACTION

The GSD also voiced concern about the power cut, which it said “once again” exposed the Government’s “complete inability” to safeguard Gibraltar’s power infrastructure from “avoidable failures, as we predicted”.

The Opposition said it had repeatedly warned of the risk of these situations reoccurring but that that Government had “failed to act decisively”.

“There has been no implementation of proper safeguards and their refusal to enforce critical recommendations has now led to yet another unnecessary and damaging blackout,” the GSD said.

The GSD said it had consistently urged the Government to improve the grid’s resilience by ring-fencing key circuits and isolating faults so a single incident did not cascade into a full system failure.

“Yet this unheeded advice has led to every home, business and public service  - including, shockingly, our 999 service - being plunged into darkness simply because the Government refuses to take the basic steps to protect our power supply,” the GSD said.

“Even more concerning is the Government’s continued failure to regulate the supervision of groundwork in critical locations.”

“Our calls for the GEA to be empowered to mandate the presence of a contractor-funded supervisor during such works have gone ignored.”

“This measure, simple in concept and at no cost to the taxpayer, would provide critical oversight and prevent the sort of damage and system failure we continue to suffer.”

The GSD said Mrs Arias Vasquez had repeatedly insisted in Parliament that the power grid “was more resilient than ever”.

But it said incidents like Tuesday’s highlighted “a complete contradiction” between that “rhetoric” and the reality on the ground, leaving the community “exposed and vulnerable”.

“How many more blackouts must we suffer before this Government accepts responsibility and acts?” said GSD MP Craig Sacarello.

“We are not dealing with extreme weather events or cyberattacks.”

“These are very avoidable failures stemming from bad planning and no supervision.”

“The Government must now move beyond empty assurances.”

“Gibraltar deserves a reliable distribution network which provides an uninterrupted service to the public.”