FILE: Rostov Nuclear Power Plant
However, due to the failure at the NPP, the power supply was disrupted in southern Russia, including in Krasnodar and populated areas on the Black Sea coast. The region introduced consumption restrictions of 1.5 GW, the Ministry of Energy reported. This was done in order to maintain the stability of the energy system, the department clarified. Restoration work is underway. By 17:00, the volume of restrictions was reduced by 500 MW.
According to the Unified Dispatch Service, more than 100 electrical substations failed in Krasnodar, and about 100 streets were left without power on July 16. The main outages occurred in the Prikubansky and Zapadny districts. Trams and trolleybuses stopped in the city. About 150 traffic lights are not working, Kubanskiye Novosti reports. Cellular communications and the Internet are lost. Residents of Anapa, Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk and Maikop also report power outages.
The Rostov NPP is located near Volgodonsk. It consists of four power units. This is the largest station in the south of the country, its capacity is 4 GW. The facility is among the top 3 in terms of generation in Russia and provides electricity to the southern regions and the North Caucasus with a population of more than 26 million people. The third power unit of the NPP was taken out for scheduled maintenance on June 22. Power units #2 and #4 are operating normally at 1,700 MW.
Mass power outages have been observed in the Krasnodar Territory over the past two weeks. The largest accident occurred on July 9, when 325,000 residents of Kuban were left without power. The Ministry of Energy claimed that the cause was "high seasonal consumption caused by summer temperature peaks": to escape the stuffiness, people turned on air conditioners and fans en masse, and the networks could not withstand such a load.
Because of this, the authorities introduced rolling blackouts in a number of populated areas, including Novorossiysk. In addition to the Krasnodar Territory, similar measures were also taken in the Rostov region on July 6.
Comment: Al Arabiya reports that the cause of the malfunction is still under investigation.
Whilst this may have a more mundane explanation, given the increased sabotage incidents in Russia, the demonstrable capability of cyberattacks to affect the functioning of industry, and the escalation of these kinds of incidents across the planet, this seems to be worth noting.