Hotline of power engineering specialists:
In the Kostroma region, command and staff exercises were conducted on the site of the Grid Control Centre of the Kostroma branch of IDGC of Centre. Joint actions to eliminate large-scale power outages at the region’s grid facilities in the autumn-winter period were worked out by representatives of Kostromaenergo, the EMERCOM of Russia for the Kostroma region, branches of SO UES Kostroma Regional Dispatch Office and FGC UES Vologda PMES, other energy companies operating in the region, as well as a number of municipalities.
According to the scenario of the exercises, on 23 November 2018, weather conditions in the region deteriorated sharply: due to a sharp temperature drop from negative to positive indicators and back the Kostroma region experienced hurricane winds with gusts up to 25-28 m/s and wet snow. Due to the accumulation of snow on wires in a number of districts, massive power outages occurred. In total, more than 165 settlements were de-energized.
The situation immediately was taken under control by the headquarters of IDGC of Centre and the headquarters for ensuring the security of power supply in the Kostroma region. A special mode of operation was introduced at the branch "Kostromaenergo", providing for mobilization of forces and means for restoring power supply to consumers. 35 first responding mobile and repair crews of the branch and 37 specialized vehicles immediately moved to work and promptly started working at the failure locations. In the process of liquidation of technological violations, socially important facilities of the region were primarily fed, for which 17 power reserve power supply sources were used by the power company. Thanks to the clear and coordinated actions of the participants in the exercises, the conditional interruptions were eliminated as soon as possible for such a situation. The organizers of the exercises highly appreciated their professionalism.
"Such exercises provide an opportunity to check the operational readiness of emergency services to eliminate consequences of natural and man-made disasters and, importantly, to develop practical skills of interaction of all participants in the process. In a critical situation in the cold season, this can be a decisive factor for the fastest restoration of electricity supply to consumers and housing and utility facilities and stabilization of the situation in the region as a whole," stressed Deputy Chief Engineer for operational and technological and situational management - Head of the Grid Control Centre of Kostromaenergo Pavel Kolotilov.
