Rolling blackouts in Russia, authorities limit energy flows to China

Due to immense heat, the Russian electric power industry demonstrates "difficulties" both in the operation of the unified energy system as a whole and by region.

Source: Russia’s Ministry of Energy, writes Interfax

Quote: "Peak loads in a unified power system were accompanied by a decrease in the capacity of thermal and nuclear power plants due to the peculiarities of the operation of both the generating equipment itself and its cooling systems. The situation was significantly complicated by the increased volume of emergency and unplanned repairs to energy facilities," the ministry stated.

Details: The nature of the problems that have arisen can be judged by the messages of Sergei Melikov, the head of Dagestan.

"A series of hot days again led to rolling blackouts and accidents. Many Dagestan families were left without light, and no matter how objective the reasons were, this does not make it easier for the people," he wrote.

He called the modernisation of networks the first necessity for the region. However, he admitted that there were no funds for this.

"It is necessary to face the truth: the volume of work and funds that will solve the problems of citizens who have been suffering from poor quality electricity for 30 years is too large for us to promise to achieve our goal tomorrow. But in the next few years we will solve this problem," Melikov emphasised.

The messages of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation are more circumspect.

In particular, they emphasised a high "accident rate against the background of high consumption".

Among other things, the high accident rate is shown by the unified energy system in the east of the country, where there was a shortage in the system.

According to the Russian Ministry of Energy, Russians are promised to cover the deficit by increasing the load of hydroelectric power stations. But at the same time, the message of the ministry says about the need to comply with the rules for the use of water resources, which limits the work of the hydroelectric power station.

In the end, Russia was forced to limit capacity flows to China.

"Everything ultimately led to the need to limit power flows to China through the Amur-Heihe high-voltage direct current to 100-200 MW," the Intefax report says.

At the same time, as the agency notes, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation does not indicate the duration of said restriction.

Background: 

The Ukrainian energy system, which has not yet restored its capacity after being damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks, manages to function without rolling blackouts.

In particular, the energy system is balanced by electricity imports from EU countries.

For example, on Tuesday, 9 August, electricity was imported from Slovakia almost throughout the day with a maximum capacity of 350 MW, as well as from 9:00 to 10:00 and from 17:00 to 23:00 from Moldova with a maximum capacity of up to 208 MW.

The Ukrainian energy system operates in conditions where the number of power plants in operation is limited. Large-scale repairs continue at many thermal power plants, and repairs are also planned at nuclear power units. This significantly limits the ability to meet the increasing consumption, especially in the evening.

At the same time, for example, on Saturday, 5 August, there was a maximum consumption for the entire weekend of summer. Compared to the previous weekend, it was 10.7% higher. For the power system, this is the capacity of more than five thermal power units, which should have been additionally turned on.

The maximum consumption was 1.5% higher than on the working day of Friday, which is atypical for weekends. The reason is abnormal heat and the active use of air conditioners.

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