[Translation provided by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

Did "Electric Power Plants" cover up the fire at the Uch-Kurgan HPP? 7 December 2018

Electric Power Plants hid the fact of fire at the Uch-Kurgan HPP. Rasul Umbetaliyev, an expert on the fuel and energy complex, a public figure, reports.

“Due to a short circuit on the stator winding of hydroelectric unit No. 2, a fire started,” he writes.

On November 19, the press service of Electric Power Plants reported that at the Uch-Kurgan HPP, the hydraulic unit No. 2 was disconnected from the differential protection of the stator with a load shedding of 45 MW.

“He was taken out for repair due to damage to the stator winding,” they said. - All necessary spare parts are in stock. Consumers will not feel this, as the power reserve is 250 MW.”

But, according to Umbetaliyev, the management of the JSC concealed the true state of affairs and the causes of the accident at the station...

In a conversation with Vesti.kg, Electric Power Plants JSC objected in response to the accusations of an expert on the fuel and energy complex that they did not hide the fact of the repair of hydroelectric unit No. 2 at the Uch-Kurgan HPP either from the public or from state bodies...

The press service reported that, according to the commission, the cause of the fire was natural aging and wear of the insulation...