List of hydroelectric power station failures
This is a list of major hydroelectric power station failures due to damage to a hydroelectric power station or its connections. Every generating station trips from time to time due to minor defects and can usually be restarted when the defect has been remedied. Various protections are built into the stations to cause shutdown before major damage is caused. Some hydroelectric power station failures may go beyond the immediate loss of generation capacity, including destruction of the turbine itself, reservoir breach and significant destruction of national grid infrastructure downstream. These can take years to remedy in some cases.
Where a generating station is large compared to the connected grid capacity, any failure can cause extensive disruption with in the network. A serious failure in a proportionally large hydroelectric generating station or its associated transmission line will remove a large block of power from the grid that may lead to widespread disturbances.
List of failures
| Plant | Location | Description | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Möhne Reservoir | Ruhr | destroyed during WWII by RAF Lancaster bombers during Operation Chastise. 5.1 MW capacity lost for about 6 weeks. | 1943 | |
| Sui-ho, Fusen, Kyosen and Choshin Dams | Korea | Due to enemy bombing, attacked during the Korean War resulting in the loss of approximately 90% of North Korea's generation capacity | 1952 | [1] |
| Schoellkopf Power Station | Niagara Falls, NY | Destruction of the plant as it fell from the gorge wall and collapsed into the river, caused by water seeping into the back wall of the power station. One worker was killed and damage was estimated at $100 million USD. | 1956 | [2] |
| Mangla Dam | Kashmir, Pakistan | The power house was damaged due to an Indian Air Force raid during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The 1000 MW hydro project was temporarily out of service. | 1971 | [3] |
| Banqiao Dam | China | 26,000 dead from direct flooding, 145,000 dead from subsequent famine and epidemics, 11 million homeless. Caused loss of generation, dam failed by overtopping | 1975 | |
| Srisailam Dam | India | Due to poor reservoir operation, flood water overflowed into the semi underground power house (770 MW) from the point where a protection wall was to be constructed before power house commissioning in 1987. Flood water deluge caused the complete submergence of power house, massive debris accumulation, electrical equipment replacement and loss of power generation for a year | 1998 | [4] |
| Bieudron Hydroelectric Power Station | Switzerland | 1269 MW loss, penstock rupture, three fatalities, flooding and loss of generating capacity | 2000 | [5] |
| Taum Sauk Hydroelectric Power Station | Missouri, USA | Due to construction and management problems, a large section of the upper reservoir failed, draining over a billion gallons of water (4 million m³) in less than half an hour. There were no fatalities, but five people were injured. The failure resulted in permanent damage to the surrounding landscape and power generation did not resume until 2010. | 2005 | [6] |
| Itaipu Dam | Brazil | 18 GW power generation loss due to storm damage of transmission lines | 2009 | see also: 2009 Brazil and Paraguay blackout |
| Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam | Russia | 2009 Sayano-Shushenskaya hydro accident, 6 GW power generation loss, 75 fatalities, due to turbine failure | 2009 | [7] |
| Srisailam Dam | India | Unprecedented flood and poor reservoir operation and an upstream dam failure causing the complete submergence of power house (770 MW). Massive debris accumulation, electrical equipment replacement and loss of total generation capacity for a year. | 2009 | [8] |
| Vishnuprayag hydro electric station (400 MW) | India | Unprecedented flash floods in June, 2013 in the State of Uttarakhand causing the complete submergence of power house. Massive debris accumulation, electrical equipment replacement and loss of total generation capacity for more than six months. | 2013 | |
| Dhauliganga hydro electric station (280 MW) | India | Unprecedented flash floods in June, 2013 in the State of Uttarakhand causing the complete submergence of power house. Massive debris accumulation, electrical equipment replacement and loss of total generation capacity for more than six months. | 2013 | [9] |
See also
- Dam failure
- List of power outages
- Hydraulic engineering
- Hydroelectricity
- List of significant thermal power station failures
- Operation Chastise
References
- ↑ "Historical Review: Bombings of Dams" (PDF). Bulletin. Canadian Dam Association. Winter 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
- ↑ Schoellcopf collapse
- ↑ "Hunter". Global Security.org. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ↑ "Power house at Srisailam submerged". Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ↑ "Cleuson-Dixence Rehab Nears End". Tunnel Builder. August 9, 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ↑ "Taum Sauk Reservoir fails".
- ↑ Ilya Naymushin (2009-08-17). "Russian dam disaster kills 10, scores missing". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
- ↑ Managing historic flood in the Krishna river basin in the year 2009
- ↑ "Curtain Raiser on the events at NHPC’s 280 MW Dhauliganga HEP" (PDF). Retrieved 1 November 2013.