Preventing and Remedying Emergency Situation in the Electric Grid Sector

In order for the Company to be prepared for preventing and remedying emergency situations and remedying the consequences of hazardous acts of nature that cause massive power outages in the electric grid sector, Holding’s subsidiaries have developed documents governing the implementation of measures to prevent and remedy the effects of natural and anthropogenic emergency situations.

The documents are in accordance with Federal Law No. 68-FZ of December 21, 1994, “On Protection of People and Territories from Natural and Anthropogenic Emergency Situations,” Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 794 of December 30, 2003, “On the Single State System of Emergency Prevention and Relief,” and Order of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation No. 222 of June 9, 2011, “On the Functional Subsystem of Preventing and Remedying Emergency Situations at Fuel and Energy Sector Entities (Facilities) and at the Entities (Facilities) under the Supervision of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.”

To make distribution grid companies more efficient in preventing potential natural and anthropogenic emergency situations and reduce the time of remedying such situations, the Company took the following measures in 2012:

• Preventive measures were developed in relation to the stability of the energy system’s operation and included in the electric grid equipment repair programs of the Company’s branches;
• The package of engineering measures was implemented as specified in the electrical equipment repair plans;
• Joint exercises and emergency drills were conducted in relation to remedying emergency situations that may result in power outages in the electric grid sector;
• The preparedness of the Electric Grid Sector Headquarters was evaluated (warning, gathering, work in special conditions);
• Reserves of material and technical resources for the remedy of serious process failures and the consequences of emergency situations were established and replenished to the existing standards;
• A multilevel system of the Electric Grid Sector Headquarters as permanent coordination centers authorized to make decisions on accident recovery and the use of necessary resources if power outages occur or may occur was created;
• Efforts were made to ensure that the Company’s management bodies, forces, and resources are prepared for response to emergency situations, the system of forecasting emergency situations was improved, and the information support system was built and further developed;
• The Company’s local regulatory documents were formulated in relation to preventing and remedying emergency situations, and mobile accident recovery crews were set up and developed on the base of operation and repair units;
• Interaction was improved among grid companies’ divisions responsible for preventing and remedying the consequences of emergency situations and the functional subsystem of the Single State System of Emergency Prevention and Relief at Fuel and Energy Sector Entities (Facilities), management bodies of the Single State System of Emergency Prevention and Relief in constituent entities of the Russian Federation, EMERCOM, and regional electricity supply security headquarters, and their information management systems were integrated and further developed;
• Mobile accident recovery crews were set up (564 mobile crews);
• Mobile accident recovery crews were equipped with off-road vehicles (1,476 vehicles);
• A pool of backup power sources was formed (989 generators rated over 30 kW);
• Branches of subsidiaries entered into agreements with contractors for interaction in accident recovery (271 agreements, involving 1,170 crews, 6,824 people, and 3,008 vehicles);
• The Automated Management System for Distributed Resources for Accident Recovery Work was built.

The measures described above ensured that management, personnel, and equipment of grid organizations were ready to begin accident recovery work within two hours after any accident occurred.

The focus of efforts was on preparing electricity distribution grid facilities of the Company (subsidiaries, branches) for spring flooding, the fire season, and the heating season.

As ordered by the Ministry of Energy and in accordance with the relevant orders issued by the Company with respect to preparations for the heating season, which included operations at electric grid facilities, Holding set up all necessary emergency supplies of equipment and materials. The Company conducted exercises and emergency drills to train personnel to deal with process failures under conditions of low temperatures.

Checks were done on vital electric grid facilities that are of substantial significance to operation during the heating season. The dispatching stations of branches are equipped with backup power sources. The emergency supplies of equipment and materials are set up in full.

The preparedness of the Company subsidiaries’ forces and resources was put to the test in early December 2012 when the massive power outages caused by adverse weather conditions and affecting 1,070 localities in the Pskov Region were remedied. The accident recovery work involved 628 people and 172 special equipment units from the Company, 87 people and 28 special equipment units from the Company contractors, and 95 people and 32 special equipment units from North-West MES, a branch of FGC UES, and Elektrosetservice UNEG.

In preparing subsidiaries (branches) for the heating season, special attention is given to the organization and implementation of measures to speed up response to accidents and enhance their preparedness for accident recovery work, including:

• Conducting exercises with EMERCOM, power industry entities, and regional administrations and executive authorities;
• Conducting emergency drills to train personnel to operate under conditions of low temperatures;
• Checking and replenishing the emergency supplies of equipment and materials and optimizing the places of their location to reduce the time necessary for delivering them to the accident site;
• Renewing framework agreements to remedy the consequences of serious process failures.

In 2012, subsidiaries (branches) conducted 1,741 emergency drills to train their operating personnel to use schedules of temporarily stopped electricity supply and 250 exercises with EMERCOM, power industry entities, and regional administrations and executive authorities.

In order to ensure prompt response to emergency situations and enhance management efficiency at all levels, Holding sets up the relevant management bodies (headquarters, commissions on emergency prevention and relief and fire safety, operational headquarters, operational teams, and mobile crews).

According to performance results in 2012, the Company subsidiaries are, therefore, fully prepared for fulfilling the necessary tasks if any natural and anthropogenic emergency situations occur.