Hydro-Quebec is busy repairing the broken pots after a loss of electricity production led to power outages affecting nearly half a million households in the province, this noon. They should, however, all find the current “this afternoon”, assures the state company.
As of 3:16 p.m., the number of customers without electricity had shrunk to 21,174 across the province, from 490,000 a few hours earlier. The vast majority of households without power – nearly 19,000 – live in Montérégie, while Montreal has 900 customers without electricity. A few hundred households are also without power in Lanaudière, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and Outaouais, among others.
“We do not know the cause, but it is really a loss of production at the Churchill Falls power station” which is at the origin of these breakdowns, indicated a spokesperson for Hydro-Québec, Cendrix Bouchard, in interview at Duty shortly after 1 p.m. On Tuesday, six of the 11 turbine-generator units of the hydroelectric power station, located in Newfoundland and Labrador, stopped working, which caused “nearly 500,000 breakdowns”, as for him specified in the middle of afternoon the Minister for Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, during a press scrum in the Blue Room.
This loss of electricity production, the circumstances of which remain to be determined, “triggered the protection mechanisms of the transmission network” of the Hydro-Québec network, indicated the state company on Tuesday, “which resulted in blackouts” in several regions of the province.
As of Tuesday afternoon, three of the six turbine sets that had stopped working earlier in the day at the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant had returned to service, giving Minister Fitzgibbon hope that all customers will be without electricity due to this event. will be reconnected to the Hydro-Québec network “quickly”.
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The loss of production from certain turbine-generator units at the Churchill Falls generating station triggered protection mechanisms on our high-voltage transmission network, causing a #breakdown of electricity affecting approximately 490,000 customers across the…
— Hydro-Quebec (@hydroquebec) April 25, 2023
The end of outages “this afternoon”
Unlike the blackouts caused by the ice storm at the beginning of the month, these do not require the deployment of Hydro-Québec employees in the field. Instead, the state-owned company manages this situation from a distance, relying on turbine-alternator groups to compensate for the drop in energy production that caused these breakdowns. Thus, “we connect people remotely”, illustrates Cendrix Bouchard, who was optimistic that all customers without electricity will be reconnected to the Hydro-Québec network “this afternoon”.
“Given that we are in a situation where the temperature is much warmer, that gives us more leeway than if we were in winter”, Quebecers consuming much less energy at this time of year. year, notes the spokesperson. Hydro-Quebec should therefore be able to quickly find a way to produce enough energy for all households in the province, he adds.
At the same time, Hydro-Québec teams are also trying to clarify the exact cause of these outages. An investigation with which the Crown corporation Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is collaborating, the plant at the origin of these power outages being located on its territory. However, the Newfoundland and Labrador Crown corporation reported no power outage related to this event on its territory on Tuesday.
During maintenance this afternoon, an issue at Churchill Falls resulted in a loss of supply affecting customers in Quebec. All units are back online. The incident is under investigation.
— NLHydro (@NLHydro) April 25, 2023
With Florence Morin-Martel