Preliminary cause of the accident at “Vardashen” substation revealed
The preliminary cause of the accident that occurred days ago at Yerevan’s “Vardashen” substation is a sharp increase in the electrical load. On the day of the fire, more electricity was consumed in the given area compared to previously recorded average indicators. This was reported by Romanos Petrosyan, the interim manager of the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) company.
According to him, preventive power outages are currently being carried out at several addresses in the Erebuni administrative district of Yerevan to redistribute the additional load in the distribution network and avoid potential accidents. Petrosyan wrote about this on his Facebook page.
Romanos Petrosyan also presented the growth in electricity consumption volumes in Armenia in recent years, noting that they are increasing intensively. According to his data, the highest electrical load of the year is recorded during the New Year holidays; in 2022 it was 1,243 MW, in 2023 – 1,264 MW, and in 2024 – 1,286 MW. Furthermore, a week ago, on December 23, the electrical load in Armenia reached 1,489 MW during peak hours.
The interim manager of ENA urged citizens to use electricity as sparingly as possible during these days and to refrain from the excessive use of electrical appliances in the household, emphasizing that this will reduce both the load on the network and the expenses of the citizens.
As a reminder, near midnight on December 27, a fire broke out on the road leading from Yerevan’s Nubarashen highway to the Erebuni Museum, covering an area of about 200 square meters. The property of the electrical substation was partially burned. The fire was contained at 00:53 on December 28 and extinguished at 01:20.
As a result of the fire at the substation, several entire neighborhoods in Yerevan were de-energized. Residents in the Erebuni administrative district remained without electricity supply for about two days.