An accident shuts down the largest thermal power plant in Angarsk. In the Siberian city, 167,000 people have to endure freezing temperatures without heating.
Dec 10, 2025, 10:21 p.mDec 10, 2025, 10:21 p.m
Ellen Ivits / t-online
Electricity transmission lines on the site of a hydroelectric power plant in the Angarsk region: The energy infrastructure in Russia is in a critical condition.Image: www.imago-images.de
A state of emergency has been in effect in the Russian city of Angarsk since December 8th. Around 167,000 people have to survive without heating in extremely sub-zero temperatures. According to current weather forecasts, the temperature will drop to minus 37 degrees this Wednesday.
The reason for the failure of the district heating supply is an accident at the TETs-9 thermal power plant on December 7th, the city’s mayor said. As a result, there were restrictions on the heat supply in 1,546 apartment buildings. 121 social institutions such as kindergartens and schools also remained without heating. According to the city administration, around 217,000 residents live in Angarsk.
“It was said that Europe would freeze”
Two boilers at the power plant have now been repaired and are running again, the governor of the Irkutsk region, Igor Kobsev, said on Tuesday. The third boiler should follow on Saturday evening. According to him, the temperature of the district heating water could be increased again to 100 degrees – the normal value is 125 degrees. Full recovery is expected by the second half of this Wednesday, the governor said.
However, residents of Angarsk continue to complain about inadequate heat supplies. The situation in the city is critical, reports the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europa. The radiators in the houses were only lukewarm, additional heaters would not help with this cold, and the temperatures in the apartments were only between 14 and 17 degrees, several residents reported. There is a hail of criticism on social networks: “Funny – when they said Europe would freeze,” a resident of Angarsk commented sarcastically on the situation.
Dilapidated infrastructure in Angarsk and the region
The problems in Angarsk are not new. Already in October, the entire region was declared on alert – due to energy deficits and risks to the infrastructure.
According to the operator of the thermal power plant in Angarsk, the Baikal Energy Company, over 75 percent of the heating networks are worn out, in some cases 100 percent. The average age of the cables is 35 years – a maximum of 25 years is recommended. The boilers and turbines in the power plant are on average 53 years old. This would mean that the service life of the segments would be exceeded in many cases.
According to the authorities, an additional burden is the sharp increase in electricity consumption – partly caused by illegal crypto mining. The head of the regional electricity supplier explained that consumption in the region is increasing by ten percent every year. This puts additional strain on the power grids.
The state of the networks in Russia is critical
But experts also see structural problems. The energy infrastructure in Russia is outdated in many places, warned energy expert Dmitri Gusev in an interview with the newspaper “Vedomosti”. Many systems therefore date back to the Soviet era. In Angarsk, the condition of the networks is particularly critical.
The Russian Energy Minister had already stated in the summer that around 40 trillion rubles would be needed by 2042 to modernize the country’s energy supply.
Angarsk is located in the south of Russia in the Irkutsk region Siberia – almost 4,200 kilometers as the crow flies Moscow removed. The coldest month of the year in Angarsk is January with an average low temperature of minus 25 degrees and maximum temperature of minus 15 degrees.
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