EPM Suffers Fire At La Sierra Thermoelectric Power Plant

Colombian utility EPM (Empresas Públicas de Medellín) announced that on August 10, a fire broke out in the battery room of its La Sierra thermoelectric generation facility in Puerto Nare, Antioquia near the Magdalena River. Firefighters from Puerto Nare and Puerto Boyacá responded to the fire, along with the firefighting units of Argos and Ecopetrol.

EPM says that so far, the cause of the fire is unknown.  The fire has taken offline one of La Sierra’s three power generation units; specifically, the Unit 3 steam-based unit. Gas-fired Unit 1 and liquid fuel powered Unit 2 will continue to operate. The fire reduces the facility’s output from 393 megawatts to 246 megawatts until repairs can be made.

EPM reports that there were no injuries, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.