MRSK Tsentra : Tabletop exercise confirmed the readiness of Smolensk power engineers for emergency situations

In the Smolensk region a tabletop exercise was conducted on the subject: 'Actions of the management bodies, forces and facilities of the functional subsystem of the Emergency Situations Department of the Smolenskenergo branch during the liquidation of consequences of natural emergency situations at energy facilities caused by spring floods and wildfires' with participation of IDGC of Centre - Smolenskenergo division.

The participants included members of Smolenskenergo's crisis management centre, heads of all Distribution Zones, heads of structural units, duty operators, specialists of the mobilization training and civil defense department and temporary information centres (TIC).

The main goal of the event is to increase the readiness to address the tasks to eliminate the consequences of natural emergency situations at energy facilities caused by spring floods and wildfires.

The tabletop exercise was conducted in two stages. At the first stage, during 4 hours, actions were performed in the event of natural emergencies caused by spring floods at energy facilities. A notification and gathering of participants was made, bringing a storm warning about a high probability of occurrence of emergencies in the region, clarifying the forces and means to eliminate major technological violations. Within the framework of the exercise, a high alert mode was introduced and interaction and information exchange was organized with the Smolensk Regional Transmission Centre of JSC 'SO UES', the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Сall-Centres of the districts.

Actions of the second stage unfolded on the territory of Monastyrschinsky district of the Smolensk region. Here, the possibility of deploying and organizing the work of the temporary information centre for working with consumers and the work of the dispatch centre was tested. Also, the readiness and equipment of the first responding crew of Monastyrschinsky Distribution Zone with inventory, protective equipment, special vehicles, communication equipment was checked. The commission also checked the completeness and conditions of storage of the emergency reserve of the Distribution Zone and the availability of independent supply sources.

The culmination of the exercise was the joint work with the local department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations to extinguish the conditional fire at the 110 kV 'Monastyrschina' substation within the framework of the emergency training. The power engineers and the fire crew worked together and eliminated the conventional fire as soon as possible.

According to the leaders of the training plan, the tabletop exercise plan was completed in full, and the participants gained practical experience in the management of units in the preparation and execution of tasks to eliminate the consequences of emergency situations caused by spring floods and wildfires.