Circulating Current Main Cause Of Blackout At KLIA Terminal 2 - MOT
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- A circulating current has been identified as the main cause of the blackout at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2 (KLIA T2) on Aug 28.
The Transport Ministry (MOT), in a statement today, said the finding was based on a technical investigation conducted by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), and the Cabinet took note of the report on Wednesday.
“MAHB’s technical investigation found that the main cause of the incident was the presence of a circulating current along the cable route between the 33kV substation supplying power to KLIA T2 and the 11kV substations at the terminal.
“This condition caused localised heating at the cable termination, which led to a flashover incident,” it said.
MOT said high soil resistivity was also identified as an indirect contributing factor, as it prevented effective dissipation of current into the ground, thereby increasing thermal stress on sheath wires.
Following the incident, MAHB’s technical team carried out immediate measures, including repairing all cable terminations, installing sheath voltage limiters at cross bonding locations to reduce the effect of circulating current, and reassessing and reconfiguring the earthing installation.
“Another step was enhancing the maintenance regime by incorporating partial discharge tests and thermographic inspections into the planned preventive maintenance programme for power cables,” the statement said.
To further enhance system safety and reliability, MAHB has also identified long-term improvement measures, including studying the feasibility of installing an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) system to speed up backup power supply and optimising generator use to protect more critical services.
Other measures involve shortening the planned preventive maintenance interval for genset load testing at Gateway@klia2 from every three months to every two months to improve reliability and enable early detection of flashover incidents.
“Also, conducting a comprehensive study of soil resistivity along the cable routes, including seasonal analysis and the effectiveness of earthing and cross bonding systems, to better control circulating current risks and improve earthing efficiency in the future,” MOT said.
According to the ministry, MAHB has confirmed that no critical airport operations were affected by the incident.
“MOT will continue to monitor the implementation of MAHB’s follow-up measures to ensure the highest level of safety, efficiency and reliability of systems at KLIA.
“The government’s main focus is to ensure this incident is addressed promptly with effective preventive measures to avoid recurrence,” it said.
On Aug 28, KLIA T2 was struck by a power outage at 2.15 pm. Transport Minister Anthony Loke described the incident as completely unacceptable as it affects the country’s image.
-- BERNAMA
