Russian spy ship theories sink after Orkney blackout traced to wind farm fault

Cock-up beats conspiracy most of the time, but that didn't stop Orkney residents wondering if a Russian warship caused their two-hour power cut. The lights went out across Orkney and part of Caithness for two hours from 1910 UTC on Wednesday, November 19. With no immediate explanation, locals filled the gap with their own …

[Anonymous Coward]

Darkness

I was in Spain when they had that massive power cut back in April, and the first cause everyone blamed was Russians, until it turned out to be a system overload problem or something similarly nebulous...

[MiguelC]

Re: Darkness

The misinformation blaming Russian activities for that blackout has been attributed to Russian fake news networks, so there's that...

https://edmo.eu/publications/disinformation-about-the-blackout-went-around-the-world-impersonated-media-rare-atmospheric-phenomenon-and-russian-networks/

[balrog]

Re: Darkness

The Russians saying it was the Russians is the biggest factor to make it likely it was not the Russians. Unless the Russians want you to think it wasn't the Russians as it was the Russians and thus the Russians who blamed the Russians where double bluffing?

[Androgynous Cupboard]

Re: Darkness

Ah, nice to revisit that - I'd forgotten all the wacky theories at the time. I should note that the fine article you linked to doesn't say that exactly, it says that Russian fake news networks claimed the blackouts were "a consequence of the European sanctions against Russia" - the implication was that it was the lack of energy resiliance that caused it, not Russian action. Still bollocks, but a different slant.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Darkness

Tom summarize, it is Ukraine fault!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Undersea cables...

I was wondring why a Russian spy ship would be lurking around the Orkneys.

These depraved Putanic spooks sneaking ashore after hacking the wind farm and using the cover of the ensuing darkness to molest Orchadian sheep ?

[Korev]

Re: Undersea cables...

> These depraved Putanic spooks sneaking ashore after hacking the wind farm and using the cover of the ensuing darkness to molest Orchadian sheep ?

You mean pulling the wool over their eyes?

[ManInThe Bar]

Re: Undersea cables...

Fair play, Dad Joke of the Day is in the post

[Bill Gray]

Re: Undersea cables...

That's baa-d!

And now I'm on the lamb ---->

(Ewe probably figured that. Shear foolishness these puns are anyway...)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Undersea cables...

In Putin's Russia, sheep molest you.

[vogon00]

Re: Undersea cables...

Someone's already written a song about this. The chorus at 00:50 says it all.

[david 12]

Re: Undersea cables...

There was a NZ case turned up, of German submariners (country boys who volunteered to get away from the farm) slipping ashore to collar some fresh milk in NZ. After the newspaper reports, substantiated by the farmer who wrote in "We've got milking records going back 70 years. My Dad always wondered what happened to the milk production that day".

[Ensign Nemo]

Chain of dependencies

Orkney resident here.

It was depressing to read that the entire archipelago was blacked out courtesy of a failure on the mainland when we have such a huge amount of locally generated wind power (operating quite healthily that night thanks to local winds).

Secondly, less publicised, the mobile network vanished as well a few minutes later. Not just "Emergency calls only" but full-on service outage. This left many of us with zero means of communication with the outside world beyond literally knocking on neighbours doors (who can be a very long ways away). This is thanks to the digital switchover where landlines don't have their own independent power supply any more.

For further entertainment, if we did have an emergency (and yes, one of us in the house is very unwell), I couldn't have even got the car out of the garage - electric doors. I'm now reading manuals to find if it has a manual override. Failure to prepare on my part there, fortunately with no consequences.

[DS999]

Re: Chain of dependencies

It was depressing to read that the entire archipelago was blacked out courtesy of a failure on the mainland when we have such a huge amount of locally generated wind power (operating quite healthily that night thanks to local winds)

You'll be part of a grid back to the mainland, otherwise you would lose power when the wind isn't blowing and the excess generation when it is would be wasted. Unfortunately that makes you subject to mainland grid issues. You can't have one without the other.

[collinsl]

Re: Chain of dependencies

Make sure you raise that phone issue with the provider and your local MP - they're supposed to have backup batteries and/or generators etc to keep phone masts running so if they're not and you don't have any means of summoning help then that's a clear service failing on their part.

[DS999]

Re: Chain of dependencies

they're supposed to have backup batteries and/or generators etc to keep phone masts running

They may have them and found out the batteries had gone bad or the handover from batteries designed to only last a couple minutes until the generator takes over failed or the generator failed.

[rivimey]

Re: Chain of dependencies

Perhaps have a local UPS (battery) able to run specific things around the house at need? <1Kw units are cheap enough to have several.

[Anonymous Coward]

On the plus side

With nothing to do for two hours in the winter cold…but go to bed to warm up.

Baby boom come August 2026.

[Strahd Ivarius]

Re: On the plus side

I didn't know it would take so much time to get new lambs...

[Anonymous Coward]

Psyop

We're being psyoped constantly in Europe that all our ills are not the governments we stupidly elected but Poootin. It was Poootin wot dun it. Don't look here, look there! Even when it is someone else doing something, blaming them is pointless. How were they able should be the first question, followed by why and how did we get here.