Violent wind left almost half of Chisinau in blackout

The last evening heavy wind left large portions of the capital city without power supply, putting in the dark more than 133 thousand households in Chisinau’s suburbs and districts of Botanica, Buiucani, and Centru, as well as in a number of localities in Ialoveni and Anenii Noi raions. According to a press release from the Union Fenosa Moldova Company, at 5:28pm, the windstorm damaged five 110 kV power lines. In addition, a power failure at the Chisinau Transformer Station cut the supply for eleven 110 kV and thirteen 35 kV transformers. Wind gusts downed 12 pillars supporting 110 kV power lines. To remedy the situation, Union Fenosa said it arranged without delay for works to restore power supply in the affected zones, involving special units of electricians and technicians. Power supply was resumed starting at 6:22pm, with the last consumers being re-connected at 1:10am. At present, works are carried out to restore all the portions of damaged power lines. In addition, the overnight violent wind gusts that hit the central and northern parts of the country caused power failure in the 10 kV distribution networks. At 8:00am, on Wednesday, 16 localities partially lacked electricity. UF is currently working to fully restore power supply.