Transformer fire at the Hoover Dam quickly extinguished
USA, Nevada, Boulder City: A fire from the transformer explosion at the Hoover Dam on the morning of 19 July was quickly extinguished and caused no injuries.
Image source: NPR
USA, Nevada, Boulder City: A fire from the transformer explosion at the Hoover Dam on the morning of 19 July was quickly extinguished and caused no injuries.
No one was hurt in the explosion near the base of the dam, an engineering marvel on the Colorado River that straddles the border of Arizona and Nevada. Electricity produced at Hoover Dam continued flowing to the 8 million people in Arizona, Nevada and Southern California who rely on it, the Western Area Power Administration said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation and officials were working to determine the extent of damage to the transformer, one of 15 at the complex that control the voltages for power sent to customers.
“There is no risk to the power grid,” said Jacklynn Gould, a regional director for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
The Bureau of Reclamation owns and operates the dam, powerhouses and turbines. The power produced at the site is transferred to a substation where it’s marketed through the Western Area Power Administration.
Hoover Dam is considered a baseload source of power, meaning it can respond quickly to the need for additional power on the grid or dial back supply.
The administration markets power from 57 federal hydroelectric facilities. Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam upstream on the Arizona-Utah border are among the largest.
Hydropower from those dams has threatened lately by the declining levels of Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two largest human-made reservoirs in the USA that hold water from the Colorado River.
Federal officials have taken action in recent years to prop up the lakes to preserve the dams’ ability to generate power and keep water flowing to the Western states and Mexico that rely on it. Drought and climate change have sunk the lakes to their lowest levels in decades.
Source: NPR