One Of Yakutia's Largest State-owned Power Plants Was Shut Down Following A Fire

The regional governor is preparing to declare a state of emergency.

In Yakutia, where the heating season began as early as late August, one of the largest power plants (GRES) in the region of the Russian Federation—the Neryungri Power Plant—has shut down. The cause was a fire on the plant’s grounds that broke out on the morning of September 22, local time, and spread over 90 square meters. As a result of the incident, the transformer substation of power unit No. 1, a generator, technical equipment, and a number of other facilities were damaged, reported by the press service of the Yakutia branch of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. According to the agency, one power plant employee, born in 1993, was injured during the fire. The preliminary cause of the fire, which has already been extinguished, is “abnormal operation of electrical equipment.”

The head of the Neryungri District Maksim Tereshchenko reported a “difficult” situation at the power plant following the fire and declared a state of heightened readiness. “The plant is currently not operating. The top priority for the authorities is to restore heat supply to Neryungri and the settlements of Berkakit and Serebryany Bor,” according to a statement from the administration. According to “Yandex Weather,” nighttime temperatures in this region are currently dropping to -4 degrees. The head of Yakutia Aisen Nikolaev has instructed officials to consider declaring a state of emergency in Neryungri and Serebryany Bor “to ensure the prompt adoption of all necessary decisions.”

According to Tereshchenko, fuel oil boilers are being prepared for operation in Serebryany Bor, while in Neryungri, fuel oil is being heated to start up the hot-water boiler room. Among other things, as a result of the fire at the station, residents of Neryungri connected to the “Gorodskaya” substation were left without electricity, the administration reported.

The Neryungri State District Heating Power Plant is the republic’s largest combined heat and power plant and the main source of heat and electricity in the South Yakutia region (installed electrical capacity—570 MW, and thermal capacity—820 Gcal·h). The facility, which is owned by the Far East Generating Company (RusHydro), was commissioned in 1983.

In 2021, a modernization project costing more than 5 billion rubles began at the Neryungri State District Power Plant. In the fall of 2025, amid RusHydro’s financial difficulties and due to delays in the delivery of heavy equipment, the Russian government authorized the postponement until 2028 of the launch of two coal-fired power units at the facility, each with a capacity of 225 MW.

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