A panel box of the Bohol Diesel Power Plant (BDPP), which was supposed to be activated to provide a slight relief in Bohol’s power woes, caught fire on Thursday afternoon.

According to Senior Fire Officer Graham Roslinda, the fire which erupted at around 3:00 p.m. only lasted for a “few minutes” as it was put out by BDPP personnel.

No one was injured during the incident.

“Luckily pagka abot didto napawng ra nila using fire extinguishers,” said Roslinda.

Authorities believed that the fire may have been caused by faulty wiring or possible overloading.

“Na storya nato si [BDPP manager] Engineer Arturo Pepito ang wiring nila medyo daan na kuno, karaan. Naistorya pud nato si Engineer Seviro Ochavillo ang in-charge sa electrical, iyang gisulti nato na suspicion is overloading,” said Roslinda.

According to Pepito, they were conducting testing of the power plant when the plant’s low-voltage switchgear exploded then caught fire.

“Igo ra ning buto ang iyang breaker unya nikatay pero na pawng ra dayon,” said Pepito.

The plant, which has a capacity of 12 to 16 megawatts, was supposed to be activated to provide power to distribution utilities which in turn will ration the electricity.

Pepito said they were still conducting an assessment as to whether or not they can still push through with the planned activation of the plant which has a capacity of 12 to 16 megawatts.

“Mura’g di pa ta kaingon ga check pa. Ato pa ning susihon pero sa karon dili pa [kaandar],” said Pepito.

Earlier, the three distribution utilities in Bohol appealed to the Energy Regulation Commission and Department of Energy for the usage of the BDPP to supply power to Bohol which is in dire need of energy source.

Bohol has been without power since it was hit by Typhoon Odette which damaged power facilities across the province on December 16. (R. Tutas)