The cause of the power outage that cut off power to half of the Russian region has been revealed

The cause of the large-scale power failure, which left almost half of Primorye without electricity, was the swelling of the soil in Khabarovsk Krai, the Ministry of Energy and Gas Supply of Primorsky Krai reports .

The incident occurred in a swampy area of ​​Khabarovsk Krai, near the intersection with the 500 kV Primorskaya GRES - Khekhtsir-2 line. The cause was soil heaving, which caused a short circuit of the 500 kV high-voltage line (HVL) to the 10 kV line and a subsequent emergency shutdown, the department explained.

As a result, the overflow of electricity from Khabarovsk Krai decreased, and emergency automatic load limiting systems were activated to protect the power grid. According to the Ministry of Energy, a significant part of Primorsky Krai was left without power supply.

During the inspection of the line, specialists discovered traces of a blockage on the wire due to a dangerous proximity to the wires of the 10 kV line, the head of the department Elena Shish said in a video message.

The emergency shutdown of the 500 kV Primorskaya GRES - Khekhtsir line occurred on Thursday at 15:56 local time (08:56 Moscow time). As a result, automatic load limiting systems were activated. Power supply to consumers with a total capacity of about 600 megawatts was stopped. By 16:37 local time (09:37 Moscow time), electricity was restored to 85% of affected subscribers in Primorye. The prosecutor's office initiated an investigation into the incident.

At present, consumers in Primorsky Krai are fully supplied with electricity, the regional authorities reported earlier.

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