Protecting the power grid during storm season

There is no denying that extreme weather has become one of the biggest challenges facing the electricity industry in recent years. Devastating storms, prolonged heavy rains causing flooding and landslides, or violent thunderstorms not only pose a direct threat to power plants but also have serious consequences for power supply.

The clearest evidence for this is the storm No. 3 that made landfall in 2024. According to statistics, this storm caused damage to Yen Bai Electricity Company up to about 30 billion VND. The consequences did not stop at material damage but more seriously, it also caused widespread power outages, significantly affecting people's lives and production and business activities of enterprises in the province.

To proactively respond to possible emergency situations, Yen Bai Power Company pays special attention to disaster prevention and search and rescue drills (PCTT - TKCN). Before each rainy and stormy season, the Company organizes serious and effective drills, with hypothetical situations built close to reality and with a high probability of occurrence.

During this year's PCTT-TKCN, emergency response - incident handling - information technology and safety drill, the Company presented very specific and detailed hypothetical situations. One of them was an electrical incident caused by heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and high intensity lightning, causing simultaneous incidents on a large scale such as broken power lines, transformer station failures, eroded column foundations and broken optical cables at some locations in the Bach Lam resettlement area, Yen Bai city.

This scenario realistically simulates what could happen in real life, requiring the drill participants to be able to respond quickly and accurately. Another notable scenario during the drill was when an electrician fainted on the work floor while on duty.

This is an emergency situation that requires timely and effective rescue measures to ensure the safety of workers. It is worth noting that the simulated situations in this year's drill are all actual incidents that occurred during the stormy seasons of 2023 and 2024 in the province.

Mr. Vu Duy Khuong - Deputy Director of Yen Bai Electricity Company emphasized that the main goal of the PCTT - TKCN drills is to improve the ability to organize and implement, train professional skills and professional style for officers and employees in handling incident situations.

To ensure safety, the Company also proactively coordinates with relevant units to organize inspections of urban trees, forestry trees, and architectural works that may affect the power grid. This is to promptly detect and handle potential risks from fallen trees and collapsed structures on power lines. For low-lying areas with high risk of flooding, Yen Bai Power Company requires units to closely monitor the area and monitor the situation to proactively cut off power, isolate areas, and ensure safety for people and the power grid system.

It can be seen that Yen Bai Electricity Company has been taking the right and effective steps in responding to extreme weather. The initiative, sense of responsibility and specific, practical solutions are the basis for believing that the Company will overcome the challenges, ensuring the uninterrupted flow of electricity on all roads of Yen Bai province.

Not only stopping at the drills, Yen Bai Power Company also synchronously deployed many other solutions to enhance the ability to respond to natural disasters. Accordingly, the Company directed the power companies and departments, affiliated units to strengthen inspection and review of the entire power grid, especially the vulnerable areas, easily affected by extreme weather. The goal is to detect early risks and abnormalities on the power grid to have timely handling measures, avoiding unfortunate incidents.

Hung Cuong

Source: https://baoyenbai.com.vn/12/349498/Bao-ve-luoi-dien-mua-mua-bao.aspx