An accident on Russian power bridge causes major blackout in Crimea
Several large cities in annexed Crimea were left without electricity. The local head of the Russian Ministry for emergency situations reported that the cause was an emergency shut-off of the automation on the 220-kv Taman-Kafa line, reported Hromadske.
Over a hundred thousand Crimeans felt electricity cuts. To restore power supply, the pro-Russian authorities of the peninsula involved about 30 emergency teams.
Local website Kryminform reported that the power supply of the Leninsky district of the Crimea, as well as Kerch and Feodosia, was shut off after the power protection system was activated. According to witnesses, traffic lights stopped working and trolley buses shut down in Kerch.
"As a result of intermittent activation of the power protection system, power supply to domestic consumers in Feodosia, Kerch, the Leninsky and Kirovsky districts—about 104,600 people—was partially stopped for a short period. The reasons for the technical disruptions are being investigated,” the statement of Krymenergo reads.
Power was completely restored to Eastern Crimea at 13:00 Kyiv time. Local electricians said that the failure in the power supply was caused by wind and wet snow build-up from bad weather conditions.
As earlier reported, from December 2015 to May 2016, Russia launched four power lines to the Crimea. According to experts, all four lines of the power bridge are still unable to compensate for the energy shortage and electrical problems are expected continue for another four to five years.