Fire at a national grid transformer in Hathazari

What happened

A small transformer on the national grid of Bangladesh Power Grid Company in Hathazari, Chattogram, caught fire on 15 April 2023. The fire was put out at once. An hour-long power cut was reported in parts of the city, with temporary load shedding in various places in Chattogram. No damage was reported, and supply was later described as almost back to normal.

Contributing factors

A distribution official told the newspaper that a current transformer used to measure national-grid voltage caught fire after an explosion linked to transformer load. That account has not been independently confirmed, and no further technical findings were reported.

Lessons learned

1. Current transformers can fail suddenly and should be watched for abnormal electrical or thermal stress.
2. A rapid local response can limit how long a transformer fire interrupts supply.
3. After a short outage, operators should check that protection and nearby equipment were not affected before treating the network as restored.

Source

tbsnews.net