The Moscow United Electric Grid Company is creating a special unit for the prompt removal of blockages on power lines and repair of electrical networks. The mobile group will include lifts with manipulators, truck cranes and harvesters for felling forests. This decision was made after the recent blackout in the Moscow region, which left about 800 settlements without electricity.

The decision to create an emergency recovery mobile reserve was discussed on Wednesday at a meeting of the operational headquarters of the Moscow United Electric Grid Company (MOESK). The division will deal with the elimination of technological disruptions, including those caused by abnormal weather conditions. It is planned that it will include car lifts on all-wheel drive or tracked chassis (lifting height of at least 28 m) with manipulators for cutting vegetation, harvesters for felling forests, trimming branches and bucking, as well as tracked vehicles, truck cranes and off-road vehicles for transportation repair crews and equipment.

The company notes that the decision to create a mobile group was made after the events at the end of 2010 - beginning of 2011. Let us remind you that on December 26, the Moscow region was covered by a rare weather phenomenon - freezing rain, during which a thick ice crust formed on all surfaces. Power lines suffered the most from this: wires broke under the weight of ice or when icy trees fell on them. As a result, a large-scale blackout occurred in the Moscow region: 790 settlements, where more than 200 thousand people live, were left without electricity. A similar situation has developed in neighboring regions - Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk regions. For several days, Domodedovo Airport, where several thousand passengers were waiting for flights, also remained without electricity. Power outages continued in 2011 due to severe blizzards and snowfalls. The blackout led to communication problems: several hundred base stations of cellular operators and a number of fixed-line stations were cut off. Due to icing of the electrical network on the railway, 251 trains were delayed. The Ministry of Energy stated that “this is the first time that the domestic power industry has encountered such a scale of damage caused by natural factors and such a volume of restoration measures.”

Despite the fact that on January 7, the Ministry of Energy announced the complete restoration of power supply in the Moscow region, many settlements are still without electricity: MOESK repair crews turn off electricity during restoration work almost every day. The list of settlements where power will be turned off today from 8.00 to 18.00 is published on the MOESK website . In addition, a number of power lines were damaged due to heavy snowfall on Tuesday.

Ivan Buranov

A mobile special unit will be created to restore power supply in the Moscow region