YEKATERINBURG, August 22. /TASS/. The emergency situation at the Reftinskaya GRES in the Sverdlovsk Region frightened Siberians, delayed passenger trains, left a number of Lukoil enterprises without power, and tested the power system of military units and formations of the Central Military District for emergency preparedness.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, the total power shortage in the Unified Energy System of Russia (UES) as a result of the accident at the Reftinskaya GRES, which resulted in cascade outages, amounted to 5.8 thousand MW. More than 600 thousand people were left without electricity. For industrial facilities that fell into the shutdown zone, information is being specified.
Start-up and adjustment work has begun at the state district power station itself.
Siberians were the first to sound the alarm
Residents of Siberia in the late afternoon faced massive power outages. The initial version of the Siberian power engineers came down to the fact that a thunderstorm or an accident on a power line could be the cause. It was this version that became a priority for specialists for several hours.
After massive blackouts occurred among household consumers, the energy system of Siberia switched to an isolated mode of operation, after which the power supply in the networks gradually began to be restored.
According to the website of the UES System Operator, generation and consumption in Siberia dropped significantly after 14:00 Moscow time. After that, seven territories of the Kemerovo region were completely or partially left without electricity. Guryevsk, Belovo and Belovsky district, Salair, Topkinsky district and Yurga, as well as Rudnichny and Kirovsky districts in Kemerovo fell under the shutdown.
Version of the Ministry of Energy
Later, the version of the accident on the Siberian power lines was not confirmed by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. According to the agency, mass shutdowns occurred due to an emergency situation at the Reftinskaya GRES.
"At 14:12 Moscow time today, under the action of protections, several high-voltage lines were switched off: Reftinskaya GRES - Tagil, Yuzhnaya - Reftinskaya GRES, Tyumen - Nelym, Tyumen - Lugovaya, Anna - Reftinskaya GRES, Tobolskaya - Kutarbitka", "Krotovo - Tatarka", "Sotnik - Tavda", "Sotnik - MDF". with successful automatic reclosing: "Reftinskaya GRES - Tagil", "Yuzhnaya - Reftinskaya GRES", with unsuccessful - "Tobolskaya - Kutarbitka", "Krotovo - Tatarka", "Sotnik - Tavda", "Sotnik - MDF". departments.
It noted that fire departments of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were called to the scene. The Tyumen power system switched to isolated operation with excess power at a frequency of 50.469 Hz. Trans-Baikal, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Khakass, Irkutsk, Buryatsk and part of the Kuzbass energy system switched to isolated operation with a power shortage and frequency reduction to 49.6 Hz.
"Household consumers were left without power supply. The power of disconnected consumers is 342 MW. Emergency and restoration work is underway," the ministry said in a statement.
This information was also confirmed to TASS by the press service of PJSC Enel Russia for the Urals Federal District. They added that as a result of the operation of technological protections, the equipment associated with the generation of electricity was turned off. The main equipment of the power plant (power units) is operational. "At present, launch operations are being carried out," the company added.
Ural stayed out of blackouts
Despite the fact that Reftinskaya GRES is located on the territory of the Sverdlovsk region, in this subject of the Urals Federal District, unlike in Siberia, mass power outages were avoided. The emergency at the GRES did not affect consumers in the Tyumen and Chelyabinsk regions either. "Everything is working correctly, but just in case, the interregional distribution grid company IDGC of Urals is operating on high alert," Natalya Baldova, spokeswoman for IDGC of Urals, told TASS earlier.
According to the press service of the Ural Regional Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, a similar situation is observed throughout the federal district, including in the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs, as well as in the Kurgan region.
The surge in electricity after the emergency that occurred at the state district power station did not affect the work of enterprises in the Sverdlovsk region. This emergency situation did not affect the combat readiness of the military units and divisions of the Central Military District stationed in Siberia, where mass blackouts occurred.
"In the units and military formations deployed in Siberia, there were recorded disconnections from the main source of power supply, but the objects of the Ministry of Defense were instantly powered from a backup autonomous source. The emergency situation at the Ural State District Power Plant did not affect the combat readiness, the military formations are operating as usual," the representative of the Central Military District said.
He clarified that interruptions were recorded in the Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Omsk regions, as well as in the Republic of Altai, Khakassia and Buryatia.
Restoration of power supply
According to the latest data from the press service of the Ministry of Energy, electricity supply to consumers has been fully restored. “Currently, all consumers have been supplied with voltage,” the source said, adding that we are talking about all regions that were previously disconnected.
Earlier it was reported that electricity was supplied only to household consumers. What industrial and social facilities fell under the shutdown is not specified.
It was reported that production was stopped at Tomskneftekhim, which is part of Sibur, as well as a power outage at Lukoil enterprises. Household consumers of the Republic of Buryatia, Altai and Trans-Baikal Territories, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Omsk Regions, more than 600 thousand people, remained without power supply.
Russian Railways also told TASS that trains in these regions are running normally.
About Reftinskaya GRES
Reftinskaya GRES is the largest thermal power plant in Russia operating on solid fuel. It is located 100 km northeast of Yekaterinburg and 18 km from Asbest. According to the Energy Museum of the Urals, the share of electricity generated at the State District Power Plant of the total volume consumed by the Sverdlovsk Region is about 40%. Relatively speaking, almost every second light bulb in the homes of residents of the Sverdlovsk region lights up from electricity generated by Reftinskaya GRES.
At the moment, the GRES is part of PJSC Enel Russia along with Sredneuralskaya, Nevinnomysskaya GRES, located in the North Caucasus, and Konakovskaya GRES in Central Russia.
In December 2010, the company began refurbishment of Reftinskaya GRES to reduce its environmental impact. Enel Russia General Director Carlo Palasciano Villamagna said earlier that last year the company completed a large-scale technical re-equipment of three power units at Reftinskaya GRES. Two of them have a capacity of 300 MW and one - 500 MW. According to him, bag filters with an efficiency of 99.9% were installed at the power units, which will prevent the release into the atmosphere of a total of about 40,000 tons of ash per year at maximum load.
As part of the agreement on cooperation in the field of environmental protection between the government of the Sverdlovsk region and PJSC Enel Russia, signed in 2011, the energy company has already invested about 20 billion rubles in the implementation of environmental protection measures, including in 2015 the investment amounted to 2.6 billion rubles.
Enel Russia is a generating company, part of the Enel group. Since October 2004 it has a branch in Yekaterinburg. In 2011, Enel Russia commissioned two 410 MW units at Sredneuralskaya and Nevinnomysskaya GRES, the company is modernizing the ash and slag removal system at Reftinskaya GRES.
VL 500 kV - 2 ("Reftinskaya GRES - Tagil", "Yuzhnaya - Reftinskaya GRES") (branch of PJSC FGC UES - MES Ural);
220 kV overhead line "Anna - Reftinskaya GRES" with successful automatic reclosure.
At 14-13 the action of protections turned off:
VL 500 kV - 3 ("Tyumen - Nelym", "Tyumen - Lugovaya", "Kurgan - Berkut");
VL 220 kV "Irtysh - Vityaz";
In L 110 kV - 4 ("Tobolskaya - Kutarbitka", "Krotovo - Tatarka", "Sotnik-Tavda", "Sotnik-MDF") with unsuccessful reclosure.
Cause: at (branch of PJSC Enel Russia — Reftinskaya GRES) there was a destruction of the communication capacitor of the 220 kV overhead line Anna — Reftinskaya GRES with oil ejection and fire. There were no casualties.
Power units Nos. 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 were switched off at Reftinskaya GRES, the plant reduced its operating capacity by 2,295 MW and the load to zero without losing its own needs.
(production subdivision of the branch "Energy system "Western Siberia" OJSC "Fortum") reduced the operating capacity by 399.7 MW and the load to zero without losing its own needs.
Reduced operating power:
- Surgutskaya GRES-1 (a separate subdivision of PAO OGK-2) — by 205 MW;
- (a separate subdivision of Unipro PJSC) — by 714 MW;
- (production division of JSC Nazarovskaya GRES (Krasnoyarsk branch of OOO SGK) — by 135 MW;
- Krasnoyarskaya HPP (subsidiaries and dependent companies of JSC EuroSibEnergo - PJSC Krasnoyarskaya HPP) - 490 MW;
- Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP (branch of PJSC RusHydro — Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP named after P.S. Neporozhny) — for 1,255 MW.
The Tyumen energy system was allocated for operation isolated from the UES of Russia with excess power at a frequency of 50.76 Hz.
Part of the Kuzbass, Trans-Baikal, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Khakass, Irkutsk and Buryatsk energy systems were allocated for work isolated from the UES of Russia with a shortage of power and a decrease in frequency to 49.6 Hz.
Automatic frequency unloading worked in operating areas:
Buryat RDU in the amount of 62.6 MW;
Zabaikalsky RDU in the amount of 33 MW;
Altai RDU in the amount of 29.3 MW;
Tyumen RDU in the amount of 11.9 MW;
Novosibirsk RDU in the amount of 81.6 MW;
Kemerovo RDU in the amount of 366 MW;
Omsk RDU in the amount of 19.6 MW;
Karelian RDU in the amount of 0.63 MW;
NDC of Mongolia in the amount of 70 MW;
IPS of Kazakhstan in the amount of 19.5 MW.
At 2:28 p.m., the frequency in the UES of Russia decreased to 49.63 Hz.
Without power supply remained:
- in the Kemerovo region - household consumers (about 177,400 people), with a capacity of 914 MW;
- in the Novosibirsk region - household consumers (about 145,600 people), with a capacity of 166 MW;
- in the Trans-Baikal Territory - household consumers (about 66,000 people), with a capacity of 33 MW;
- in the Republic of Buryatia - household consumers (about 318,500 people), with a capacity of 62.6 MW;
- in the Omsk region - household consumers (about 2,700 people), with a capacity of 19.6 MW;
- in the Altai Territory and the Republic of Altai - household consumers (about 118,500 people), with a capacity of 111.6 MW.
The total number of disconnected consumers amounted to about 828,700 people. The power of disconnected consumers is 1,306.8 MW.
There was a failure in the movement of two passenger and two freight trains for 32 minutes.
At 14-39 in the Tyumen region, all consumers were supplied with voltage.
At 14-41, the detached part of the IPS of Siberia was synchronized with the UES of Russia.
At 2:46 pm in the Republic of Buryatia, all consumers were supplied with voltage.
At 14-51, the frequency in the UES of Russia was restored - 50.00 Hz.
At 15-09 in the Novosibirsk region, all consumers were supplied with voltage.
At 15-19 in the Altai Territory, all consumers were supplied with voltage.
At 15-45 in the Trans-Baikal Territory, all consumers were supplied with voltage.
At 19-12, power unit No. 6 was switched on at Reftinskaya GRES.
At 19-32 all consumers are supplied with voltage.
As of 08:00 at Reftinskaya GRES: power units Nos. 4, 6 are in operation; under repair - power units No. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9.
The station carries a load of 530 MW.
Emergency recovery work on the communication capacitor of the 220 kV overhead line Reftinskaya GRES - Anna continues.
MOSCOW, 22 August. /TASS/. The power supply to household consumers, disrupted as a result of the accident at the Reftinskaya GRES and cascading outages in the Unified Energy System of Russia, has been fully restored, TASS was told in the press service of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.
"Currently, all household consumers have been supplied with voltage," the source said.
Household consumers in the Republic of Buryatia, Altai and Trans-Baikal Territories, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Omsk regions remained without power supply.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, more than 600 thousand people, as well as Lukoil enterprises, remained without electricity. In addition, according to the department, a failure in the movement of trains was recorded.
For industrial facilities that fell into the shutdown zone, information is being specified. Start-up and adjustment works have begun at the TPP itself.
Reftinskaya GRES is the largest thermal power plant in the Urals, operating on solid fuel. It is located in the village of Reftinsky in the Sverdlovsk region (100 km northeast of Yekaterinburg and 18 km from Asbest). Installed capacity - 3 thousand 800 MW. Electricity generation in 2015 amounted to 20.04 million MWh. Works on coal, mainly supplied from Kazakhstan. It was put into operation in 1970. It has 10 power units. The main owner of the power plant (56.43% of shares) is the Russian branch of the Italian company Enel ("Enel"). The director of the state district power station is Sergey Zamyatin. On December 20, 2006, a fire broke out at the 10th power unit of the GRES, as a result of which the neighboring units also had to be decommissioned. The accident led to the shutdown of about 1 thousand MW of power.
Enel Russia is a generating company, part of the Enel group. Since October 2004 it has a branch in Yekaterinburg. In 2011, Enel Russia commissioned two 410 MW units at Sredneuralskaya and Nevinomysskaya GRES, the company is modernizing the ash and slag removal system at Reftinskaya GRES.
Continuation
Accident at the power plant
At the Reftinskaya GRES (Enel Russia, Sverdlovsk Region) today, due to the destruction of the communication capacitor of the 220 kV overhead line Anna - Reftinskaya GRES, a 220 kV bus section was switched off with an oil release and fire.
Earlier it was reported that the station reduced the generated power from 2295 MW to zero. "As a result of the operation of technological protections, cascade outages occurred in the UES of Russia. The total power shortage in the UES of Russia as a result of these emergency shutdowns amounted to 5.8 thousand MW, which led to a decrease in the frequency in the UES of Russia to 49.63 Hz," the press service of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation reported.
They noted that the Tyumen, Trans-Baikal, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Khakass, Irkutsk, Buryat and part of the Kuzbass energy system stood out for isolated work with a power shortage and a decrease in frequency to 49.6 Hz.
In Russia, another large-scale accident occurred in the energy system: due to the destruction of equipment for power output at the Reftinskaya GRES of Enel Russia, several high-voltage power lines in the Urals and Siberia were turned off at once. As a result, part of the regional energy systems turned out to be isolated, and there was a shortage of power in Siberia. This led to the disconnection of consumers, including such large ones as Tomskneftekhim. At the moment, the accident has been eliminated: already after 40 minutes, the power engineers restored the frequency in the UES of Russia - 50.00 Hz, according to the Ministry of Energy.
According to the Ministry of Energy, the accident at the Reftinskaya GRES (3.8 GW) of Enel Russia, where an insulator on an open switchgear (a system for distributing generated electricity to the grid) 220 kV, collapsed, was eliminated. At 14:52 Moscow time, power engineers completely eliminated its consequences. At the moment, the power supply of all household consumers has been restored.
Recall that today at 14:12 Moscow time several high-voltage power lines in the Urals and Siberia were automatically switched off, as follows from the summary on the website of the Ministry of Energy. As a result, according to the ministry, the Tyumen energy system was allocated for isolated operation with excess capacity, and due to the emergency shutdown of power lines that provide power flows to Siberia, Zabaikalskaya, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Khakassia, Irkutsk, Buryatskaya and part of the Kuzbass energy system also switched to isolated operation with a shortage of capacity.
At the same time, deviations from the current frequency standards in power systems were recorded, and household consumers were left without power supply by 342 MW. There were no casualties. In addition, large enterprises stopped due to blackouts, in particular, Tomskneftekhim of SIBUR got up at 14:20. The Kommersant company explained that the protective systems of production for such situations worked in the normal mode: “There is a technological discharge of hydrocarbon raw materials to the flare system. There were no incidents at the Tomskneftekhim site itself.” According to the representative of the company, the enterprise is preparing to launch production, the supply of electricity to Tomskneftekhim has been resumed.
This is the second large-scale incident in the Russian power grid complex recently: at the end of July, there was an accident on power lines connecting Eastern and Western Siberia, which also led to restrictions on energy supplies to consumers (see Kommersant dated July 27). The repair was completed in March 2008, its cost was about 2 billion rubles.
Enel Russia did not promptly comment on the accident.
Tatyana Dyatel, Olga Mordyushenko
Our country. Until now, representatives of the commission created to investigate its causes cannot give an unambiguous answer regarding the causes of this incident.
Their own investigation was carried out not only by such departments as the Ministry of Energy and the federal Rostekhnadzor. Journalists also conducted an investigation into the accident at the Reftinskaya GRES, having visited the site of the tragedy, talked with the management of this station, and also listened to the opinion of independent experts.
Tragedy at the station
The fire, which occurred on August 22 this year at two o'clock in the afternoon, was the result of a splash of molten metal. An accident occurred at the Reftinskaya GRES due to the destruction of the insulator. Such a statement sounded as if there had been no tragedy and life at the station was going on as usual.
Department of Energy version
The most complete version of the events that happened was the information provided by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. The accident at the Reftinskaya GRES is considered as the cause of the destruction of the capacitor of the high-voltage line (220 kV). As a result, oil was ejected, the tire section was switched off during its ignition. At the station, the generated power was reduced from the maximum indicator (2295 MW) to zero.
Consequences of loss of power
The accident at the Reftinskaya GRES led to the immediate operation of automatic protection systems. All high-voltage lines that come out of this station have been switched off. Reftinskaya GRES (an accident in 2016, to be more precise) provoked numerous cascading outages throughout the country.
The power systems of many Russian regions had to switch to work. Ultimately, the accident at the Reftinskaya GRES left six Siberian regions without a full-fledged power supply at once. It took a lot of effort to get the power system back on track.
Expert opinion
Discussing what kind of accident occurred at the Reftinskaya GRES, experts agree that this is one of the largest in the post-Soviet space.
As the main reason for the large-scale shocks that have occurred, they name the coupling capacitor. This two-meter-long rod, which had insulating ceramic rings, contained molten butter inside.
Experts do not have exact information about whether the capacitor exploded, but it was in it at Reftinskaya GRES. The work of experts continues, other possible causes of fire at the station are being established.
The opinion of local residents
Residents of the nearby village of Reftinskiy learned from their relatives that there had been an accident at Reftinskaya GRES. They saw photos of the damage only in the newspapers. When journalists who arrived in these places to conduct their own independent investigation began to ask the inhabitants of this area about the tragedy that had occurred, they all answered without hesitation that an oil condenser had exploded. Such unanimity aroused doubts among the representatives of the press, they decided to go to the scene.
Location of the accident
The picture that appeared before the journalists was depressing. As a result of the release of molten oil on the territory of a dozen square kilometers, the earth was completely scorched. The scene of the tragedy was perfectly visible from the road.
Near the fence, on which barbed wire was stretched, the grass was scorched. It was here that the oil splashed from the condenser burned. Eyewitnesses say that at first a loud explosion was heard, then a crack was heard.
Journalistic investigation
Many local residents observed sparks from an electric arc, as there was a short circuit in the sections of wire closest to each other. People talk about the impression that the whole sky was filled with sparks.
This is a confirmation of how serious the accident at Reftinskaya GRES turned out to be. Photos taken immediately after the tragedy confirm the scale of the tragedy. Journalists conducting their independent investigation were unable to photograph the aftermath of the accident.
Representatives of the security service of the Reftinskaya GRES told the press that this station is a strategic facility, so any photo and video filming is prohibited. After intervention in the current situation by the press service of PJSC Enel Russia, the direct owner of this power plant, it was possible to resolve the conflict situation.
After finding out the identity of the journalists, the head of the security service of the station gave permission to photograph the accident site. It was these shots that were published and attracted the attention of Russian environmentalists. Residents of the Reftinsky village believe that they were just lucky. If the protection system had not worked at the station, the consequences of the accident would have been much larger.
In his interview, Oleg Kosmenyuk, Deputy General Director of Enel Russia, noted that immediately after he received information about the accident, he flew to Yekaterinburg. According to his version, a complete destruction of the coupling capacitor occurred on an open switchgear designed for 220 kW.
As a result, a short circuit was observed, which spread along the tires, rated at 220 kW. At the time of the tragedy, six power units were involved in full-fledged work.
Thanks to the modern automatic protection systems available at this station, after the technological blockage was triggered, it was possible to turn off all power units in stages. Such actions eliminated any possibility of the accident continuing.
The current situation at the station
The system operator gave a request to include all eight power units in the normal mode of operation. Literally a few days after the tragedy, the sixth unit was restored to working capacity, then the second unit returned to a normal schedule.
By Wednesday, August 24, the station had restored its original mode of operation. Thanks to the well-coordinated work of professional power engineers, it was possible to cope with the emergency in the shortest possible time.
Professional version
Engineers carefully answer journalists' questions about whether a more serious and powerful explosion could have really happened if it were not for the professionalism of the employees and the automation of the station. They told the press that they are always prepared for any emergency and are working to create a complete system of measures aimed at improving the protection of the station.
Safety first
Particular attention is paid to continuous training of personnel, emergency response drills. During such classes, a variety of problem situations are simulated, allowing staff to improve their practical skills, to deal with behavior in case of an emergency.
After the end of the training sessions, the actions of each station employee are necessarily analyzed, all shortcomings are analyzed so that they are not repeated next time.
Experts say that it was thanks to the well-coordinated work of the station personnel that they managed to quickly cope with the current emergency situation and prevent human casualties. In the course of the ongoing investigation, the journalists found out that in September 2000, an emergency had already happened at Reftinskaya GRES.
The station staff confirmed this fact and noted that in both cases, the landing of the station in the zero phase, that is, a power outage, was accepted as a way to eliminate serious consequences.
That is why all trainings with working personnel, systematically conducted by labor protection specialists, relate to the actions of employees in the event of an emergency according to this scenario.
Conclusion
One of the versions of the accident, considered by various expert commissions, was the anomalously high temperature that was established at that time in this region. A direct answer to the existing connection between the exploded capacitor and abnormal temperature was not revealed during the investigation.
Experts who have an idea about the operation of such equipment argue that one of the causes of an emergency may be a hidden defect (equipment defective), as well as a violation of operating rules, poor-quality installation of installations. Experts explain that when installing power equipment of this class, third-party organizations are mainly involved.
Due to the fact that the warranty period has already expired, it will be difficult to hold them accountable. The experts also note the need for systematic monitoring of the state of the station and the feasibility of timely preventive maintenance.
Professional power engineers do not exclude the possibility of a negative impact on the normal operation of condensers from abnormally high air temperatures. They are convinced that natural conditions could become an additional factor that, together with the human resource, led to an emergency. They explain their position on the basis of a high school course in physics. During heating, the oil expands, which can cause an explosion.
Ecologists have not yet voiced their position on the tragedy, its consequences for wildlife. They continue to analyze the changes observed in the region in order to assess the severity of the accident at the power plant. The investigation of the accident at the Reftinskaya GRES continues.