Arkhangelsk Holds Drills Following Power Line Collapses in Neighboring Region

In the Polar Region, five power line supports collapsed at once. Murmansk, Severomorsk, and several suburban areas were suddenly left without light. A helicopter was sent from Arkhangelsk to help the neighboring region. The government explained how the Arkhangelsk Region prepares for such accidents.

Governor Tsybulsky ordered drills to eliminate accidents on power grids. As reported by the government press service, the goal of the training is to practice the order of actions in case of accidents on power lines that supply electricity to Arkhangelsk, Novodvinsk, and Severodvinsk.

«In the Murmansk Region at the end of last week, a large-scale accident occurred with the collapse of power line supports, major cities in the region were left without electricity, water, and heating. We are helping our neighbors eliminate the consequences of the accident. At the same time, it is necessary to analyze this situation from the perspective of practicing actions in case of a potentially possible similar incident in our region,» noted Alexander Tsybulsky.

The Ministry of Fuel and Energy Complex and Housing and Communal Services of the region, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Arkhangelsk Region, and «Rosseti Severo-Zapad» (North-West Grids) should work out a response scenario to such incidents in joint drills.

«It is important to identify all those responsible for each front of work, clarify from which suppliers and within what timeframes components can be purchased if necessary, as well as the timelines for eliminating the accident,» noted the governor.

Recall that residents of settlements in the Arkhangelsk Region also regularly remain without light: a recent accident affected the Pinezhsky and part of the Kholmogorsky districts. On the same day, in part of the settlements of the Mezensky, Velsky, and Lensky municipal districts, electricity also disappeared.

At the end of December, an accident also left the Pinezhsky and part of the Kholmogorsky district without electricity. The cause of the outages was heavy snowfalls, not ceasing in different parts of Pomorye. According to the governor, for several days the Arkhangelsk branch of «Rosseti Severo-Zapad» worked in a state of high alert. Over 2,000 kilometers of power lines were downed.