Energy is the blood and flesh of modern civilization. If not, then life freezes. Even the slightest malfunctions at power plants can lead to dire consequences, and even major accidents at electric power systems are akin to the end of the world, albeit local.
Year 2012
This time was rich in similar incidents. November of that year was especially remembered by the inhabitants of Munich. The metro did not work, traffic lights turned out to be de-energized almost all areas of the city. Hospitals switched to backup generators, data centers suffered multimillion-dollar losses. The magnitude of the accident was such that even the suburbs of Munich were de-energized. The “collapse” of energy networks was the largest in 20 years.
Then, that is, in November, something similar happened in Buenos Aires. The main thoroughfares of the city were damaged. Everything developed in the same way: metro trains did not go, traffic lights did not work.
American storms
But October was the richest in events of the same year, when Sandy hit the United States. More than eight million people were without electricity, even cut off Canada. Hurricane Nosister, which burst out in early November, again paralyzed the restoration work, presented a surprise.
Few people paid attention to this, but in September 2012 there were reports of a major accident in Cuba’s power systems, as a result of which Liberty Island was completely free ... from electricity. It took a month to completely eliminate all the consequences.
Something similar happened in the same September in Tbilisi. But there everything went much easier, since only some areas of the city were left without light. Everything was much worse in early August in India, which remained almost completely without energy for several days.
2011
What accidents on electric and utility systems occurred at this time? For the residents of the United States and Mexico, the summer of 2011, when about 10 million people were sitting without lights as a result of rolling blackouts, was really “hot”. The reason is the operation of automation at a large American nuclear power plant. It soon became clear that the human factor was to blame. The employee who performed the scheduled maintenance of the systems did not exit the diagnostic mode, as a result of which an automatic shutdown worked.
In general, accidents on electric power systems (we have already described examples in the USA) are an excellent test of the operability of reserve supply options, as well as the ability of emergency response services.
In February of that year, several power lines broke down in Barnaul. Without light left just over 100 thousand people. It was especially difficult for hospitals, which had to use all available backup sources of electricity. There is no need to say how dangerous such accidents are in electric power supply systems.
Fukushima
Separate lines deserve this Japanese nuclear power plant, the radioactive water from the cellars of which still flows peacefully into the Pacific Ocean. The initial cause is a nine-magnitude earthquake that caused a powerful tsunami. The cooling system failed, and the backup generators ... were half a year before removed and taken out for repair. Due to the rapid rise in temperature, the foundation of the nuclear power plant was soon melted. Hydrogen accumulated in the buildings of the power units at that time, as a result of which the residents of the suburbs soon heard two deafening explosions.
It soon turned out that the natural element only pushed the inevitable. Reports surfaced in 2008 in which the IAEA Commission strongly recommended that multiple violations be addressed. The removal of all backup generators is a blatant negligence, as a result of which millions of cubic meters of radioactive water fell into the Pacific Ocean. The consequences of this disaster, according to GREENPIS, humanity simply has not yet realized. Until now, the area around the nuclear power plant remains very dangerous for humans.
2010
In December of that year, almost all of Rio de Janeiro was without energy. Soon it turned out that the shutdown was due to a strong short circuit on the main city highways, which was caused by inaccurate repairs. In the city several districts were left without light, the metro did not work completely. They managed to restore the current supply in a few hours.
Also in August, Petersburg and several districts of the Leningrad Region were de-energized due to accidents that occurred at two substations. More precisely, at first the accident occurred on one, and the second simply could not withstand the increased load, since everything happened in the late afternoon. In the suburbs, trains stopped, all important social facilities were automatically transferred to backup power sources. You have probably already noticed that accidents on electric power systems (examples in the world repeatedly prove this) can be most easily localized where there are a sufficient number of duplicating networks and generating capacities.
Terrorist attack in Indonesia
In July, Indonesian Jakarta was also left without electricity due to a powerful explosion at a thermal power plant. Most likely, it was a terrorist attack. Martial law was introduced. Probably, the unknowns wanted to paralyze the work of the local airport, but the latter shortly before this accident acquired reliable backup energy sources, so that the operation did not stop.
In April, there were reports of a serious accident at the power systems of the Nevinnomyssk State District Power Plant. As a result, power of about 286.85 megawatts was instantly lost, which is why most of the North Caucasus was left without light. In general, accidents on electric power systems and hydrodynamic accidents are not only interconnected (hydroelectric power station, state district power station), but also lead to the largest losses. The reason is simple - one city thermal power plant can produce 10-30 MW, which can not be compared with the volume of energy production at large hydropower plants.
2009
Before the New Year, many settlements in Belarus were completely de-energized due to heavy snowfall, as a result of which many
power lines were simply broken. To the credit of the power engineers, they dealt with this misfortune rather quickly, especially since the weather had already improved at that time. The same thing and at the same time happened in Ukraine, where many regions of the central regions of the country were left without light.
Strange as it may seem, accidents on electric power systems in Russia were avoided. However, there is nothing strange about this, since our power engineers showed their best side, without leaving the affected facilities for days and hours and shifting thousands of meters of wires again.
Even in distant France, the end of December did not come about because of a cascade of accidents at substations, as a result of which the famous Cote d'Azur plunged into darkness. It turned out that the distribution station in Tavel simply could not withstand the colossal overloads caused by the massive influx of vacationers who want to celebrate Christmas here.
In November 2009, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo suffered. In Brazil, at least ten thousand citizens lost their light. It turned out that the largest hydroelectric station "Parana" completely got up due to a serious accident in the engine room. However, after 2.5 hours, they managed to completely cope with the problem.
Sayan tragedy
August 17, 2009 is a rainy day in the recent history of our country. Then there was a disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric station. During the repair of the units, the constipation could not withstand the enormous pressure of the water, as a result of which it almost immediately flooded several engine rooms. Due to this accident at electric power systems in the Russian Federation, the safety requirements were radically revised.
Of the ten turbines, nine were completely destroyed. Because of this accident, many cities in Siberia turned out to be without light for several hours, and work began at the largest metallurgical enterprises. It is believed that then 75 people died and 13 more were seriously injured.
2008
Perhaps the most “poorest” in the accident on electric power systems was 2008. That time was remembered only by a blackout in the very center of Washington. About 11 thousand people were without light; throughout the city, traffic lights did not work. It turned out that due to the accident at the gas distribution station, the local CHP was left without fuel. There were no casualties; the main social and governmental institutions were transferred to reserve power sources.
2007
In October, such a storm broke out off the coast of the Australian state of Queensland that many kilometers of power grids seemed torn. At least 25 thousand houses were left without light. What then were the accidents on electric power systems in the world?
In July of that year, a major accident at a substation in Barcelona caused several regions of Spain to plunge into darkness. For unknown reasons, transmission resistance has sharply increased on one of the central highways, resulting in a rapid fire. Not a single institution worked in the city itself, even hospitals were left without light.
In February, approximately 120 thousand people in Tajikistan were also completely deprived of access to energy. This was caused by an accident at the famous high-altitude hydroelectric power station Pamir-1. The reason was ridiculous: due to an oversight of local peasants, a large irrigation canal changed its course a little, as a result of which water quickly flooded several engine rooms. Fortunately, the consequences were quickly eliminated.
In January, Bucharest remained almost without light. The central areas were completely de-energized. More than a thousand people turned out to be locked in the subway for an hour, and other public transport stopped. All this happened due to malfunctions at the central distribution stations. As a result of this accident on electric power systems (we have already given examples of similar situations), the Hungarians had to almost completely modernize all the main electric lines of the city and the country as a whole.
2005
In May of this year, Moscow, the Moscow Region, as well as the Tula Region and several other regions received electricity according to “hungry” standards. This happened as a result of an accident at the Chagino station. Particularly serious consequences of this accident affected the work of local telecommunication networks and almost all media. Phones did not work, including cell phones, data centers and Internet providers could not cope. Because of this accident on electric power systems (there have already been examples in Russia), they have finally begun to pay increased attention to redundant nodes and backup systems.
In total, at least four million people were affected. About 20 thousand citizens were blocked in the metro, another 1.5 thousand were stuck in elevators. It is estimated that the total damage exceeded two billion rubles.
Thus, accidents on electric power systems, examples of which we have cited, are a very expensive “pleasure”, which often has to be paid for not only with money, but also with people's lives.