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

PlantLocationDescriptionYearReference
Möhne ReservoirRuhrDestroyed during WWII by RAF Lancaster bombers during Operation Chastise. 5.1 MW capacity lost for about 6 weeks.1943
Edersee DamWaldeck-FrankenbergDestroyed during WWII by RAF Lancaster bombers during Operation Chastise. 16 MWe of generation lost.1943
Schoellkopf Power StationNiagara Falls, NYDestruction 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[1]
Vajont DamItalyOvertopping due to instability, with the evidence of the instability suppressed by the Government. 1,917 deaths1963
Mangla DamKashmir, PakistanThe 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 [2]
Banqiao DamChina26,000 dead from flooding, 145,000 dead from subsequent famine and epidemics, 11 million homeless. Caused loss of generation, dam failed by overtopping in a 1-in-2,000 year flood[3]1975
Teton Dam Idaho, USAThe dam foundations washed away and a wave swept aside everything in its path, including two towns, at least eleven people, and thousands of cattle.[4]1976
Machchhu DamMachchhu, India1800 - 25000 people killed.[5]1976
Srisailam DamIndiaDue 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 year1998[6]
Bieudron Hydroelectric Power StationSwitzerland1269 MW loss, penstock rupture, three fatalities, flooding and loss of generating capacity2000[7]
Taum Sauk Hydroelectric Power StationMissouri, USADue to its being designed without a spillway and continuing to operate when management knew the gauging system was faulty, the upper reservoir was overtopped when water continued to be pumped from the lower reservoir after the upper was already full. 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[8][9][10]
Itaipu DamBrazil18 GW power generation loss due to storm damage of transmission lines2009 see also: 2009 Brazil and Paraguay blackout
Sayano–Shushenskaya DamRussia2009 Sayano-Shushenskaya hydro accident, 6 GW power generation loss, 75 fatalities, due to turbine failure2009[11]
Srisailam DamIndiaOn 2 October 2009, an earth dam burst above the Srisailam reservoir creating a record inflow which threatened the dam2009[12]
Vishnuprayag hydro electric station (400 MW)IndiaFlash floods resulted in accumulation of huge quantity of muck and debris in the dam reservoir2013[13]
Dhauliganga hydro electric station (280 MW)IndiaUnprecedented 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[14]
Uri-II Power Station (240 MW)IndiaA Strong fire incident happened in one of the Transformers of the Power Station.2014
Oroville DamCalifornia, USADamaged spillway caused evacuation of 180,0002017-

Not listed here but need to be added:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Schoellcopf collapse
  2. ↑ "Hunter". Global Security.org. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
  3. ↑ http://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/the-forgotten-legacy-of-the-banqiao-dam-collapse-7821
  4. ↑ http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/02/a-bigger-problem-than-isis
  5. ↑ 1979 Machchhu dam failure
  6. ↑ "Power house at Srisailam submerged". Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Cleuson-Dixence Rehab Nears End". Tunnel Builder. August 9, 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  8. ↑ "Taum Sauk Reservoir fails". Archived from the original on 2006-12-18.
  9. ↑ http://www.bpa.gov/power/PG/NW-HydroOperators-Forum/Materials/CaseStudyT-Sauk_Ehasz-Paul.pdf Missouri University of Science & Technology: The 2005 Upper Taum Sauk Dam Failure:A Case History
  10. ↑ http://www.ferc.gov/industries/hydropower/safety/projects/taum-sauk/staff-rpt.asp Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Staff Report
  11. ↑ Ilya Naymushin (2009-08-17). "Russian dam disaster kills 10, scores missing". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  12. ↑ Managing historic flood in the Krishna river basin in the year 2009
  13. ↑ http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/dehradun/directive-to-vishnuprayag-project-builders-on-dumping-of-silt.html
  14. ↑ "Curtain Raiser on the events at NHPC's 280 MW Dhauliganga HEP" (PDF). Retrieved 1 November 2013.


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