The fire that broke out on Monday night at CET Vest in Bucharest caused a major breakdown in the district heating system, leaving tens of thousands of homes in the capital without hot water. The issues mainly affect neighborhoods in the western part of the city.
Approximately 2,300 buildings in sectors 5 and 6, as well as parts of sectors 1 and 2, were without hot water on Tuesday afternoon. Problems are reported in areas such as Banu Manta, Nicolae Titulescu, Calea Griviței, Iancu de Hunedoara, Floreasca, Dorobanți, or Ștefan cel Mare.
ELCEN announces that some consumers have already been taken over by CET Grozăvești.
In the morning, around 3,500 properties were affected, and authorities say that supply should return to normal parameters by midnight.
The Mayor of Bucharest, Ciprian Ciucu, announced that CET Vest remains shut down, and supply is gradually being taken over by CET Grozăvești, where two hot water boilers have already been started. He mentioned that as the thermal load increases, the supply of hot water will return to normal parameters "by midnight," and it will be resumed in all affected areas.
ELCEN announces that the thermal agent is delivered at a temperature of 80°C.
Data from the Termo Alert application showed the extent of the issues in the morning: approximately 27% of properties had no hot water at all, and over 12% were receiving thermal agent below normal parameters. In total, over 3,500 buildings were affected by the breakdown at CET Vest.
The biggest problems were in the neighborhoods in the western part of the capital, where the shutdown of the plant made it impossible to deliver hot water under normal conditions. Meanwhile, the situation has started to improve as some consumers are being taken over by CET Grozăvești.
Cause of the fire
According to ELCEN, the fire at CET Vest was caused by a malfunction in the plant's internal electrical system. The issue led to the failure of some protection systems, and the breakdown quickly spread to other installations, including the two transformers that caught fire.
The company emphasizes that the incident did not affect the electricity supply to Bucharest, as it was limited to the plant itself.
Minister of Energy: Major damages
The Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, stated that the damages incurred are significant and that repairs could take up to a year, depending on the technical solutions identified.
He specified that the electricity supply in the area is not affected, but the issues are strictly related to the production and delivery of the thermal agent.
"There are major damages. We are talking about a duration of up to a year in which these damages can be resolved," the minister said.
What Happened at CET Vest
On Monday night, a powerful explosion followed by a fire occurred at the electrical transformers in the premises of CET Vest. The flames engulfed installations containing tens of tons of oil, making intervention difficult.
According to authorities, two 110/6 kV transformers, essential for the internal power supply of the plant, were affected. The fire was extinguished after several hours of firefighting intervention, with no casualties reported.
Meanwhile, the electricity supply was temporarily interrupted for safety reasons but was quickly restored.
