A fire damaged a power plant supplying 30 to 35% of Guadeloupe’s electrical consumption, causing load shedding every 2 hours for units of 10,000 subscribers. This combined-cycle power plant, supplied with fuel by 2 separate coal and bagasse (sugar cane fibre residue) circuits, consists of two 30 MW units comprising a boiler and a steam turbine. For the bagasse supply, a conveyor belt circuit ensures the circulation between the chain loading conveyor, the supply by the neighbouring sugar refinery and the storage shed. The chain conveyor is equipped with hatches in the upper part of the boiler that allow the bagasse to flow into the combustion chamber. It is equipped with an explosion vent.

The sugar refinery had been shut down for a month. The bagasse collected while the circuit was being cleaned was stored on the conveyors. Preparation of the restart began at 2:32 pm and the conveyor was switched on at 2:39 pm. The hatches of unit 1 were opened at 3:05 pm and those of unit 2 at 3:23 pm. At 3:26 pm, a pressure surge was detected in the combustion chamber of the boiler in unit 2. A succession of trips due to lack of supply and emergency stops occurred at 3:29 pm.

The probable causes of the fire were the formation of an explosive atmosphere in the conveyor or between this conveyor and boiler 2, then the explosion of the cloud initiated by a flashback from a boiler. This explosion could have caused the bagasse and conveyor belts to ignite. The overpressure vent of the Buhler conveyor exploded. The spraying of the belts was only activated when the operations director arrived.

When the inspection authorities arrived at 5 pm, the emergency services had controlled the fire which was not extinguished. The fire destroyed all of the conveyors on the bagasse circuit and the handling tower. There was major damage to unit 1 was significant (wiring harnesses and control air) but the boiler and turbine were intact. Unit 2 had little visible damage but required further investigations before being restarted. A protective perimeter was set up around the overhead conveyor between the sugar refinery and the power plant which threatened to collapse. The coal circuit was mechanically intact.