Power firm Belco said today that recently installed equipment at its new power plant was designed to prevent a repeat of the problem that caused soot to land on homes around its plant.

Belco was flooded with complaints from area residents and MPs in August after soot from the new north power station landed on their roofs and homes, raising concerns about residents’ health and property damage.

Belco said the discharges were caused when residue which had built up after the commissioning of the generators was emitted when one of the engines was restarted after servicing.

Now engineering group Burmeister and Wain Scandinavian Contractor and engine manufacturers Man have installed new equipment at the power station on St John’s Road, Pembroke.

Dennis Pimentel, the president of Belco, said: “Building a brand-new power station is an incredibly complex project and we did experience some negative issues commissioning the new plant.

“Let me again apologise to the area residents who were affected during this process.

“Our dedicated staff at Belco, in conjunction with contractors BWSC, have been working tirelessly to diagnose and fix the issues to ensure the plant operates as efficiently and cleanly as possible.

“I would like to thank the area residents and all customers across the island for their patience and understanding as we work to ensure reliable, safe and clean energy for Bermuda.”

A Belco spokesman said BWSC had modified the engines for better performance and will test their effectiveness for the next six weeks.

The spokesman added that the firm’s occupational health safety and environment team will monitor the testing and will take any action needed to mitigate potential problems.

Anyone who has been affected by emissions from the plant should contact Belco at ohse@belco.bm or by phone at 299-2802 and give their name, address and contact number.