Irkutskenergo

Irkutskenergo is the largest energy company of Siberia. Total power of its power plants is 12.9 GW.

The company includes 3 hydroelectric power stations - Brotherly (one of the largest HEPS in Russia), Irkutsk and Ust-Ilimskyu, 10 combined heat and power plants and Energosbyt company.

The main consumers of electrical and thermal energy of Irkutskenergo – the population of the Irkutsk region, the enterprise of small and medium business, agriculture, the social sphere large extracting industrial and processing enterprises of the region. In the every second mode nearly three million people use company services.

A major shareholder of Irkutskenergo is the largest Russian private power company of EuroSibEnergo. It is included into group En + Group which controlling shareholder and the president is the entrepreneur, the billionaire Oleg Deripaska.

2017: Failure of automatic equipment on hydroelectric power station deenergized Oleg Deripaska's plants and houses of hundreds of thousands of people

On June 27, 2017 failure of antiabnormal automatic equipment on one of the largest HEPS of Russia - Brotherly hydroelectric power station - led to shutdown of some other power facilities of Siberia and de-energization of the plants and considerable number of residential consumers of the electric power.

According to the Ministry of Energy, on Brotherly hydroelectric power station (Irkutskenergo branch) of the device of antiabnormal automatic equipment was incorrectly created and implemented on power facilities of the Irkutsk power supply system corrective actions on shutdown of loading in the amount of about 800 MW, including on the Irkutsk aluminum plant of 750 MW belonging to Rusal.

It entailed exceeding of parameters of the electrical power mode in Unified Energy System of Siberia (CUC of Siberia) and the wrong operation of devices of antiabnormal automatic equipment on substation of 500 kV Lake. The last caused shutdown of loading on Bratsk Aluminum Plant which also belongs to Rusal, in the amount of about 650 MW and led to increase in loading of elements of systemically important network up to the values exceeding abnormal values.

Because of failure of antiabnormal automatic equipment on Brotherly hydroelectric power station there was a cascade decrease in loading in power supply system of Siberia approximately on 7 GW (a photo source - Ozero.ru)

Result of consecutive misoperation of devices of antiabnormal automatic equipment on Brotherly hydroelectric power station and substation of 500 kV Lake was cascade development of accident at which 7 transmission lines of 500 kV were disconnected. As a result of it a part of CUC of Siberia passed to the work isolated from the Power pool system of Russia.

As a result of cascade accident were in addition disconnected: the generating equipment with a total power about 7000 MW on Berezovskaya GRES (Yunipro), Boguchansky hydroelectric power station, Nazarovsky (SGK) GRES, the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station (EuroSibEnergo), Brotherly hydroelectric power station (Irkutskenergo), the Ust-Ilimsk hydroelectric power station (Irkutskenergo), the Krasnoyarsk GRES-2 (OGK-2). On Boguchansky hydroelectric power station, in particular, were disconnected there was a complete reset of loading of the station.

Blackouts as a result of accident affected six plants of Rusal. In addition to two above-mentioned, de-energization affected also Novokuznetsk, Khakass, Sayanogorsk and Krasnoyarsk plants. Without electricity there was left also the Irkutsk aircraft factory.

Also a part of residential consumers in Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Kemerovo region, Zabaykalsky Krai and the Republic of Buryatia lost electricity. According to Prime, in total without electricity there were left about 265.2 thousand people.

Recovery power supply was conducted gradually: at first energy supply was resumed for the plants, then for residential consumers. According to the Ministry of Energy, from the moment of emergence of failure before complete elimination of effects there passed about three hours.

Next day after accident Rusal stated that the company defines the amount of the losses received as a result of time decrease in production.

In turn, Irkutskenergo, the managing director of Brotherly hydroelectric power station, together with representatives of System Operator, Rostekhnadzor, the generating and network companies of Siberia is involved in investigation of the reasons of the occurred blackout.