A blackout affected Aruba on Thursday, November 5, from around 2:00 p.m. until electricity was fully restored at 4:23 p.m.. According to WEB Aruba, a preliminary investigation points to a malfunction in the electrical system during routine testing at the plant.
The malfunction caused a loss of connection to two transformers linked to the RECIP IV plant engines. At the time, the engines were operating but suddenly lost a substantial amount of power, eventually triggering the island-wide blackout.
WEB resumed supplying electricity to ELMAR shortly after the outage, allowing the restoration process to begin. ELMAR’s technical teams started reconnecting customers in the area around Kooyman before gradually restoring power to other parts of the island.
By 3:25 p.m., electricity had been restored to parts of Paradera, Sabana Berde, PriceSmart, Plaza Padu, Cumana, Avenida Milio Croes, Sabana Blanco, parts of Savaneta, Pos Chiquito, Santa Cruz, Balashi, Parkietenbos, the Hospital area, Punta Brabo, the low-rise hotel area, and the RIU Hotel in Palm Beach.
At 3:50 p.m., ELMAR reported that power had also returned to the ImSan area of San Nicolas, Seroe Colorado, Pietheinstraat, Brazil, and other locations. Electricity production had reached 91 MW and was continuing to increase.
By 4:15 p.m., power had also been restored in the Arawak area of Noord, additional parts of Palm Beach, and parts of San Jose.
At 4:23 p.m., WEB’s electricity supply to ELMAR had reached 100%, marking the full restoration of electricity across the island. The process took a total of two hours and 23 minutes.
WEB reported that not all the plant engines had failed during the incident, allowing electricity production and supply to begin recovering within just over an hour. Although production has since stabilized, the company will maintain additional monitoring. A more detailed investigation is still needed to establish the exact cause of the malfunction.
Throughout the restoration process, both WEB Aruba and ELMAR kept the public informed through their social media channels.
WEB acknowledged the impact that power interruptions have on the community and Aruba’s economy, apologized for the inconvenience, and thanked residents for their patience and understanding. The company also expressed its appreciation to its employees for their swift response and to ELMAR’s teams for their efforts to restore electricity to customers across the island.
