Hydroelectric power plants are built according to strict safety standards and regulations, but in the past the world has still witnessed accidents that have caused significant damage to the local environment. In the following article, we will present some of the individual accidents that have occurred in the last 15 years. Neither large nor small countries have been able to prevent catastrophic failures of dams or hydraulic structures, despite the safety checks that have been carried out.
USA
In February 2017, during a rainy season that was the wettest winter California has seen in a century, the spillway at Oroville Dam in the US had to be widened, easing the load on the dam, but severe erosion was found turkey telegram data in the concrete foundation. Since repairs were not possible, about 180,000 people had to be evacuated. The construction problem meant that power generation ceased. The shutdown was short-lived and, although operations resumed soon after, only two of the six turbines were used.
In 2005, a transformer at the Taum Sauk Power Station in Missouri, USA, caught fire. Although management knew the metering system was faulty, the plant continued to operate, but the upper reservoir overflowed and failed, releasing more than a billion gallons of water (4 million m3) in less than half an hour. There were no fatalities, but five people were injuredRussia
In August 2009, a turbine at Russia's largest hydroelectric power station failed catastrophically. The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station near Sayanogorsk flooded the building, killing 75 people.
Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station
India
In 1998, the Srisailam Dam in India suffered a major failure. Poor construction resulted in the underground power plant being flooded, leaving almost everything underwater. Power generation had to be suspended for a year until repairs were completed. The same dam suffered complications again in 2009. The main reasons for the second failure were poor reservoir performance and unprecedented flood levels, which again led to flooding and disruption of power generation for a year.
Over the past decade, India has seen problems with several power plants. In 2013, floods caused problems at Vishnuprayag, where a huge amount of mud and waste accumulated in a reservoir. The failure at the Dhauliganga hydroelectric power station was also caused by flooding in June 2013, which inundated the power station. Unlike the floods, it was a fire that caused massive damage to one of the transformers at the Uri-II power station in Kashmir, India.