SINGAPORE - The authorities will take firm action against those found responsible for the recent electricity disruption in central Singapore caused by equipment failure at a substation in Carlton Hotel, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon said on Saturday (Feb 16).

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) will also be working closely with SP Group and equipment suppliers to ensure that Singapore's power system remains reliable and robust, and that the chances of Thursday's incident happening again are minimised, he added.

Dr Koh made these comments in a Facebook post on Saturday, after a visit to SP Group's Kim Chuan substation.

During his visit, he took a look at the transmission and distribution network equipment, and was also given a demonstration of some of the maintenance testing processes.

SP Group also shared details of their regular maintenance regime, including regular testing of equipment and checks to monitor their condition.

Dr Koh added that there was a good discussion on the potential areas for review.

In his Facebook post, Dr Koh said that the authorities take electricity disruption very seriously, and that SP Group and the EMA will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.

"EMA has assured me that they will take firm action against any party found to be responsible for the disruption depending on the outcome of the investigations," he added.

On Thursday afternoon, electricity supply to parts of Bugis, City Hall, Marina and Somerset was disrupted for 12 minutes.

The equipment failure also caused an electricity flashover, resulting in a fire at Carlton Hotel. The fire was put out by Singapore Civil Defence Force officers.

Seven stations on the North East Line - HarbourFront, Outram Park, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Dhoby Ghaut, Boon Keng and Potong Pasir - were also affected, though MRT trains continued to run normally.

Power was restored to most of these locations by 1.21pm, but it was only fully restored at Carlton Hotel at 6.50pm.