The 38 MWe power plant shutdown shortly before 4 p.m. when a transmission line between Kaumana and Pohoiki was tripped, said Curt Beck, energy services department manager with the Hawaii Electric Light Co.
The fault, which could have been caused by a tree branch, disconnected the line from the rest of the grid, leaving PGV with nowhere for its electricity to go.
The plant in Pohoiki automatically shutdown in response. With the plant offline, steam produced from the geothermal process was released as a safety measure.
About 20,000 customers lost power for about 15 minutes, Beck said. HELCO turned on its backup diesel generators to make up for the temporary loss of PGV.
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