Fire at Shahjibazar power plant in Habiganj closes 330 MW station

What happened

A fire broke out at the Shahjibazar 330 MW Power Plant in Habiganj, Bangladesh, on the morning of 28 May 2022. Six fire engines from Habiganj fire service and civil defence brought the blaze under control at 11:45am, about two hours after it started. The plant, which is under the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), was closed due to the fire. Plant engineers suspected that two transformers had caught fire because of a short circuit. The extent of the damage could not be determined immediately after the fire. BPDB said an inquiry committee would be formed to investigate the incident and that BPDB officials would visit the plant.

Contributing factors

Plant engineers suspected a short circuit in two transformers. This has not been confirmed. No other contributing factors were reported.

Lessons learned

1. Transformers are a significant fire hazard at generating stations, so insulation, bushings, connections and oil condition should be inspected on a planned schedule.
2. Transformer bays should have fire detection and suppression, and operators should agree response arrangements with local fire services in advance.
3. Evidence should be preserved and a formal inquiry completed before a damaged unit is returned to service, so that the confirmed cause informs repairs and other sites.

More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, detection and monitoring, investigation and fleet-wide checks, from every incident on the register.

Source

thedailystar.net