Fire at Wanlong substation cuts power to more than 300,000 households in Taipei

On 12 December 2021 a fire broke out at Taiwan Power Co's Wanlong substation in Taipei's Wenshan District. The city government said a mechanical malfunction was reported at the primary substation. Taipower later said the No. 5 distribution transformer malfunctioned, its insulating oil caught fire and smoked, and an insulation failure followed. The 161 kV and 69 kV supply systems were shut down. Parts of Taipei's Muzha area and New Taipei City's Sindian District lost power. Taipower said 305,418 households were affected. Firefighters, called at 9:56am, put the fire out at 10:26am. No casualties were reported. Power was restored to affected households and facilities by 1:07pm. Taipower said the outage was not linked to a national supply shortage.

Taipower said a malfunction of the No. 5 distribution transformer caused its insulating oil to catch fire and led to an insulation failure. The city government described the start of the event as a mechanical malfunction. No further cause was reported.

1. A transformer oil fire at a primary substation can force higher-voltage systems offline and interrupt supply across more than one city.
2. Loss of grid supply can also stop water treatment and booster pumps, so backup generation at those sites matters.
3. Until a company investigation is published, the initiating malfunction should not be treated as fully explained.

taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2021/12/13/2003769509