The Norochcholai coal power plant, which was shut down as a precautionary measure following yesterday’s (17) sudden islandwide power outage, will not be reconnected to the national grid for several days, the National System Operator (NSO) has announced.
In a statement, the company said the plant would remain disconnected as standard safety procedures are being followed in response to the incident.
The NSO noted that the temporary loss of 810 megawatts of generating capacity would be managed through careful electricity supply arrangements to minimise the impact on consumers over the next few days.
It added that the prevailing rainy weather would help maintain hydropower generation at maximum levels, while the anticipated relative decline in electricity demand was also expected to ease pressure on the power system.
The islandwide power outage occurred at around 11.43 a.m. yesterday (17), after a generating unit disconnected from the national grid, triggering an imbalance that led to the entire system collapsing in less than 30 seconds.
The National System Operator said restoration work began shortly afterwards. By 12.11 p.m., major hydropower generating units had been brought back online, and the power system was restarted simultaneously in four separate sections.
Although the restoration process faced challenges due to small-scale power generation sources that were not under the direct control of the system control center, efforts to restore electricity supplies continued through the activation of distribution feeders from 12.37 p.m.
By around 3.00 p.m., electricity had been restored to essential services, including major hospitals, water treatment plants and the airport, the company said.
The company further stated that grid substations across the country had been reconnected by 5.00 p.m., restoring electricity to the majority of consumers.
It noted that the sudden disconnection of a generating unit from the grid as a safety measure is a normal occurrence at power plants. However, a complete collapse of the entire power system due to such a disconnection or another disruption is not considered normal.
Accordingly, an internal investigation has been launched to identify the specific sequence of events that led to the incident and determine its underlying causes, the NSO added.
