Turkish attacks cause power plant out of service in Syria’s Hasakah
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – An official from the Energy Bureau, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), stated on Sunday that a transformer of the Western Dam of power conversion plant in Hasakah, northeast Syria, exploded due to Turkish attacks, leading to the complete shutdown of the plant.
Ali Ali, official from the maintenance team the Energy Bureau, said that the explosion of the transformer, which assists the main transformer 66/20 KV, led to the complete shutdown of the plant. There are also significant damages to the cables and main switches.
He explained that after inspecting the faults, it was found that there was a significant damage to the main transformer due to the fire that broke out near it. We disconnected the burned section from the plant and supplied the Eastern Dam plant from another source.
The official pointed out that they operate one power line per hour by another transformer to supply the neighborhoods that were previously supplied by the main transformer, but for very few hours. That transformer used to supply five power lines at the same time, but now we can only operate one power line, all as a temporary measure.
Regarding the material damages, Ali mentioned that their teams are still inspecting the station and assessing the damages. There are significant material losses, according to the official.
“I was on an inspection tour of the plant’s transformers ten minutes before the targeting. I returned indoors at 12:20 pm, hearing the sound of drones in the city’s sky. Ten minutes after I entered, I heard the sound of something colliding with the transformer, followed by an explosion”, regarding what happened during the targeting, Rawi al-Jasim, the acting member at the plant at that time, told North Press.
The gas and power facilities in Sweidiya in the countryside of Derik, far northeast of Syria, went completely out of service due to a series of Turkish airstrikes and shelling. This resulted in a complete water cut-off to the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria.
“I went out to the plant yard to see the transformer burning completely, and due to the oil inside it, a fire broke out in a large section of the plant”, al-Jasim added.