Reftinskaya GRES, accident: who is to blame?

The need to create state district power stations (abbreviated GRES) arose long ago. A huge part of residential and industrial premises every day needs electricity. It is the GRES that can almost completely meet this need. But sometimes there are emergency situations at power plants. There are many reasons, but the equipment wears out the main. An exception was not and Reftinskaya GRES, the accident on which brought a lot of problems.

Briefly about the Reftinskaya power station

Reftinskaya State District Power Plant is the largest thermal power plant in the whole of the Russian Federation. It is located in the Sverdlovsk region, 2.5 km from the village of Reftinsky.

The capacity of the power plant is 3,800 MW. The main fuel is Ekibastuz coal with a calorific value of 16.3 MJ / kg. Fuel oil is used as a fuel.

GRES was established to supply electricity to industrial regions of the Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Perm and Chelyabinsk regions. The construction of the power plant began in 1963, in 1970 the first power unit was launched, in 1980 the latter was launched.

History of the power station

Back in 1963, the future creators of the Reftinsky state district power plant landed next to the city of Asbestos. In such a jungle, they wanted to find an ideal site for the construction of a power plant. And they got what they wanted: in the same year the first peg marking the beginning of construction was jammed into the ground.

The Sverdlovsk Regional Committee followed the construction of the power plant. World experience, the best technical solutions of that time - everything possible was invested in the design of the building itself. March 1967 was marked by laying the first cubic meter of concrete in the foundation of the future power plant.

From 1970 to 1980, one after another, after a thorough check, the power units were launched. It was then that the whole country realized that this state district power station is the most impressive, since its power reached a record level of 3,800 MW. With such indicators, the power plant meets the needs of the entire Ural region.

Equipment of Reftinskaya GRES

The power plant uses the following systems:

1. Fuel supply. It is carried out due to the delivery of coal by rail. The fuel is fed to the station by means of a bulldozer. To store fuel oil, separate tanks are allocated directly to the GRES storage facility.
2. Water supply. On the territory of the power plant is a pond, designed for cooling systems. In addition, a deep water intake is used.
3. Hydrosoldering. Ash and slag are removed through specially-designed pipes to waste disposal sites.
4. Water treatment. For this purpose, there is a desalting plant at the station.
5. Monitoring and control system. It is implemented at the expense of boards with devices for regulating the operation of equipment. For every two units there is one shield.
6. Gas cleaning system. To achieve the purity of the gas, electrostatic precipitators are used, the list of which is generally available.

What was the year 2006 memorable for the workers of the power plant?

In the run-up to 2007, no one could foresee that the Reftinskaya GRES (accident of all shocked) would suddenly fail. It was the end of December, the air was already pre-New Year's atmosphere, and suddenly - an emergency. First, the tenth power unit collapsed, besides, there was a fire, the roof began to fail. Next came the seventh and eighth blocks. And the ninth power unit was generally under repair.

Of course, these incidents significantly reduced the efficiency of the power plant. And the entire Sverdlovsk power system was seriously suspected of being unreliable.

According to the results obtained by the departmental commission, the damage suffered by the power plant was determined, and it amounted to more than 237 million rubles. But no one had yet guessed that the accident at Reftinskaya GRES in 2006 was far from the only and not the last.

August 2016: what did he bring?

Man gets used to everything. That is, even when the power supply suddenly disconnected in the settlements nearest to the station, people reacted rather grumbling than frightened: "Again the accident at Reftinskaya GRES - the heads will fly ...". The systems of the Tyumen and Sverdlovsk regions can fully provide their regions independently, which they did, simply disconnecting from the main power system.

Given the development of a huge amount of energy, it is not surprising that there is an excess. People could not notice the extreme situation at all. That's why only an ignorant person could have wondered at what was happening, saying something like: "Horror! Reftinskaya GRES, the accident - nonsense, it can not be! ".

Thanks to the efficiency of the equipment protection system, everything was disabled. This practically did not affect the operability of the power plant systems. There were no injured people either.

How did the accident affect the combat readiness of the local military units?

According to reliable sources, even the accident at Reftinskaya GRES on August 22, 2016 could not somehow upset the work of military units. Disconnections from the source of electricity were present, but at the first signs of possible disconnection from the main power supply system, all objects of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation were connected to stand-by autonomous sources.

This situation did not represent an unsolvable problem. Despite the interruptions (which, incidentally, occurred also in the territories of the Republic of Altai, Khakassia, Buryatia, etc.), the combat readiness of the military units remained unchanged.

Which companies still suffered?

"Sibur" still suffered some losses. The company Tomskneftekhim, which was part of it, was forced to suspend production; The reason for this was the frequency deviation in the accident at the Reftinskaya GRES. In other words, there was a drawdown of voltage. Thanks to the rapid response of the protective systems, all equipment was temporarily disconnected and therefore preserved intact.

Even in such a freelance situation, employees of Tomskneftekhim did not lose their heads and started to raise panic. Immediately there was a check of the existence of a threat to the environment and for humans. These threats were absent, and after a short time the company resumed production.

Restoration of power supply

As soon as a systemic accident occurred, Reftinskaya GRES immediately began to try to resume the supply of electricity to household consumers. The enterprises of Lukoil, located on the territory of the Urals; Tomskneftekhim; A lot of objects in the Omsk and Kemerovo regions - all of them were left without a power source. Only after a few hours it was possible to establish electricity for all consumers.

In addition, about eight o'clock in the evening at Reftinskaya GRES, work began on the launch of power units and the installation of systems. That is, from the time of the accident to almost complete recovery, it took only a couple of hours. You can admire the efficiency of power plant workers!

Who else could be left without food?

As reported by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, some high-voltage lines were cut off. Among them are Tyumen-Nelly, Krotovo-Tatarka and others. And the second line of the listed ones was automatically restarted unsuccessfully.

On the territory of Siberia, a lot of very important strategic facilities. The same military units, for example. To leave them and production without electricity is to expose the country to a threat both in terms of developing the necessary products and in terms of combat capability.

Because of the short circuit, the electrical networks (the accident, Reftinskaya GRES could not prevent it) could not come to working condition. Although most of the high-voltage lines were restored, there are also those who refused to work.

Is there a risk of a re-ignition?

Undoubtedly, this question interests many, especially the workers of the state district power plant in the Sverdlovsk region. But when analyzing the already observed fires and roof collapse, the following conclusion can be drawn: the probability of a repeated accident is very high. Equipment at the station has not changed for a long time. Yes, in Soviet times these were the best developments, but since then much has been lost, the technologies of the last century have been replaced by more modern ones. It's not just the ideas of the new equipment themselves. If the budget does not allow the timely diagnosis and repair of machines and installations, and the replacement of the same wiring, then as a result, production may decline.

It should be taken into account that the power units are already 30-40 years old. They were not replaced or at least overhauled. It is these factors that can easily prove the necessity of maintaining security systems in absolute order. That is, if not modernization, then at least a quick response to an emergency situation. After all, even with the next collapse of the roof, there will still be several power units, with the help of which it will be possible to generate electricity.

Reftinskaya GRES, the accident that occurred in 2016, has not really recovered from the previous emergency situation in 2006. Then the consequences were much harder. And more expensive - almost two billion rubles cost the restoration of the station.

The next such ignition can turn off the power plant for a long time, or even for good.

If we consider that this power station, even in this condition, can still provide more than enough areas, it becomes clear how justified is the investment in modernization of the station. We need to do everything possible to make the motto of this organization the phrase: "Reftinskaya GRES - an accident is excluded!". After all, if there is no power supply, then in the whole country there will be a colossal failure: in production, in science, and in other spheres.