Terror attack at MGM Solar Plant

It appears a lone man succeeded in driving his car thru a fence and caused considerable damage at a solar plant that supplies much of the electricity to the various MGM properties in Las Vegas. Two reports say it could be two years before the plant is fully operational again. Not seeing a lot of coverage on this so I don't know how big a deal this is.

Quote: billryan

It appears a lone man succeeded in driving his car thru a fence and caused considerable damage at a solar plant that supplies much of the electricity to the various MGM properties in Las Vegas. Two reports say it could be two years before the plant is fully operational again. Not seeing a lot of coverage on this so I don't know how big a deal this is.
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Towards the end of the report, they got one of the senior folks at the plant who said that it would be online "next week". The first employee guessed two years due to the difficulty in finding replacement parts, which is the same reason the other substation attacks in WA state have used for the lengthy outages in those areas.

It do find it ironic that for an industry that tends to make most of its revenue in the dusk-to-dawn timeframe would build a mega-solar plant as their prime source of power. In reality, electricity is somewhat fungible--power used from solar during the day allows Hoover Dam to throttle back, and when the sun goes down, hydro steps it up to take the load.

The attacker thought he was damaging a Tesla solar plant.

Quote: BillHasRetired

Quote: billryan

It appears a lone man succeeded in driving his car thru a fence and caused considerable damage at a solar plant that supplies much of the electricity to the various MGM properties in Las Vegas. Two reports say it could be two years before the plant is fully operational again. Not seeing a lot of coverage on this so I don't know how big a deal this is.
link to original post

Towards the end of the report, they got one of the senior folks at the plant who said that it would be online "next week". The first employee guessed two years due to the difficulty in finding replacement parts, which is the same reason the other substation attacks in WA state have used for the lengthy outages in those areas.

It do find it ironic that for an industry that tends to make most of its revenue in the dusk-to-dawn timeframe would build a mega-solar plant as their prime source of power. In reality, electricity is somewhat fungible--power used from solar during the day allows Hoover Dam to throttle back, and when the sun goes down, hydro steps it up to take the load.

The attacker thought he was damaging a Tesla solar plant.
link to original post

He did a real number on it, blowing up his own car in one of the transformer pits, thus completely disabling the plant of over 300,000 panels. He told police "He did it for the future"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11608443/Man-34-charged-terrorism-deliberately-destroyed-solar-energy-plant.html
https://fortheloveofhouse.org/casino-games-with-best-odds/alleged-terrorist-disables-mgm-solar-plant-in-las-vegas/
https://www.thestreet.com/travel/las-vegas-strip-leader-suffers-terrorist-attack

In what way was this a terrorist attack? Oh. his name is Mohammad. It looks like he was just a nutter with a bee in his bonnet about the evil solar power industry. Or maybe he just wanted his 15 minutes of fame. He barely bothered to leave the scene.

the idea that you can leave power stations unguarded may seem remarkable to our descendants

damaging them definitely is in the terrorist playbook

Quote: odiousgambit

the idea that you can leave power stations unguarded may seem remarkable to our descendants

damaging them definitely is in the terrorist playbook
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How do you protect substations where most of the equipment is outdoors?
Anyone with a rifle can shoot at it from 100 yards

Quote: odiousgambit

the idea that you can leave power stations unguarded may seem remarkable to our descendants

damaging them definitely is in the terrorist playbook
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He who defends everything defends nothing.

I'm not buying that there is no way to guard these places. Yeah, vulnerabilities have to be addressed

currently maybe the thinking is that the cost-benefit doesn't call for it yet, and the recent series of attacks will not be sustained as the new normal

I know a power station near me got some work on the vulnerabilities it had. No guards I don't think

Of course, they can be defended. In most cases, it wouldn't take all that much. If the highest point of a structure is 25 feet tall, build a perimeter wall thirty feet high. You can wrap the outer structure in any number of essentially bulletproof materials.
Stack a couple of shipping containers on top of each other and you greatly reduce the vulnerability. Start sending the attackers to Guantanamo or SuperMaxes to deter other like-minded people.

What does this Terminator Terrorist know about Tesla solar panels that he doesn't know about MGM solar panels? Seems finding janitors at the twitter building would be at the top of the list right about now.

Quote: odiousgambit

the idea that you can leave power stations unguarded may seem remarkable to our descendants
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The concept of power stations may seem remarkable to our descendants.

Can’t you just shield some critical parts with armor from bullet strikes? At least the expensive parts.

Also you can get a drone up quicker and over the area if you have a precinct within a few miles. It’s easy to preprogram routes in advance. You can take live video saved for study later if you need to and be able to track figures or vehicles moving anywhere in that area.

Also more parts need to be manufactured as modules, so more plug n play. No one needs to work on things in the field. Just replace a module rather than fix a specific area, and take the damaged module back to the shop to fix.

Quote: OnceDear

Quote: BillHasRetired

Quote: billryan

It appears a lone man succeeded in driving his car thru a fence and caused considerable damage at a solar plant that supplies much of the electricity to the various MGM properties in Las Vegas. Two reports say it could be two years before the plant is fully operational again. Not seeing a lot of coverage on this so I don't know how big a deal this is.
link to original post

Towards the end of the report, they got one of the senior folks at the plant who said that it would be online "next week". The first employee guessed two years due to the difficulty in finding replacement parts, which is the same reason the other substation attacks in WA state have used for the lengthy outages in those areas.

It do find it ironic that for an industry that tends to make most of its revenue in the dusk-to-dawn timeframe would build a mega-solar plant as their prime source of power. In reality, electricity is somewhat fungible--power used from solar during the day allows Hoover Dam to throttle back, and when the sun goes down, hydro steps it up to take the load.

The attacker thought he was damaging a Tesla solar plant.
link to original post

He did a real number on it, blowing up his own car in one of the transformer pits, thus completely disabling the plant of over 300,000 panels. He told police "He did it for the future"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11608443/Man-34-charged-terrorism-deliberately-destroyed-solar-energy-plant.html
https://fortheloveofhouse.org/casino-games-with-best-odds/alleged-terrorist-disables-mgm-solar-plant-in-las-vegas/
https://www.thestreet.com/travel/las-vegas-strip-leader-suffers-terrorist-attack

In what way was this a terrorist attack? Oh. his name is Mohammad. It looks like he was just a nutter with a bee in his bonnet about the evil solar power industry. Or maybe he just wanted his 15 minutes of fame. He barely bothered to leave the scene.
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Any attack on the grid is treated as an act of terrorism, no matter if the persons name is Bill, Omar or Jesus.

...also if 7-11 can afford some vehicle barrier poles, surely, we can afford them at substations.

Quote: rxwine

Can’t you just shield some critical parts with armor from bullet strikes? At least the expensive parts.

Also you can get a drone up quicker and over the area if you have a precinct within a few miles. It’s easy to preprogram routes in advance. You can take live video saved for study later if you need to and be able to track figures or vehicles moving anywhere in that area.

Also more parts need to be manufactured as modules, so more plug n play. No one needs to work on things in the field. Just replace a module rather than fix a specific area, and take the damaged module back to the shop to fix.
link to original post

The purpose of power substations is to take long-distance high-tension line power and transform it down to distribution power. That means taking 345,000 volt power and turning it into 14,400 volt power. When you're dealing with voltages like that, you really need to space components far apart to prevent arcing. This is why power stations look like giant erector sets--you can't put this stuff in any kind of building--it's got to be outside.

That also makes it hard to modularize the layout. Transformers are giant, heavy, boxes filled with copper windings and heavy oil as a combination arc reducer and coolant. When you move them in and out of a power station, you have to calculate a safe route through all the energized stuff in its path. YouTube is packed with power station arcs from switching operations. Scary stuff.

Unfortunately, the nature of what you're working on practically mandates large open-air power stations. You can't do a right-angle bend in a high-voltage line, since coronal discharges in the bend will bleed your power tremendously. So you have to do a gradual curve, which takes room. This kind of limitation also works against modularization, which prefers small, tight, confined constructions, making it easier to plug and play.

Quote: rxwine

Can’t you just shield some critical parts with armor from bullet strikes? At least the expensive parts.

Also you can get a drone up quicker and over the area if you have a precinct within a few miles. It’s easy to preprogram routes in advance. You can take live video saved for study later if you need to and be able to track figures or vehicles moving anywhere in that area.

Also more parts need to be manufactured as modules, so more plug n play. No one needs to work on things in the field. Just replace a module rather than fix a specific area, and take the damaged module back to the shop to fix.
link to original post

Bullets are not how I would knock out a substation, but I also wouldn't be looking to damage much.
I am perfectly content to trip the recloser enough times that it gives up and waits for a crew in a truck. As I understand, this is not practical to shield against with aboveground transmission.

Bollards and similar vehicle barriers outside the fence seem a good idea.

Quote: BillHasRetired

Quote: rxwine

Can’t you just shield some critical parts with armor from bullet strikes? At least the expensive parts.

Also you can get a drone up quicker and over the area if you have a precinct within a few miles. It’s easy to preprogram routes in advance. You can take live video saved for study later if you need to and be able to track figures or vehicles moving anywhere in that area.

Also more parts need to be manufactured as modules, so more plug n play. No one needs to work on things in the field. Just replace a module rather than fix a specific area, and take the damaged module back to the shop to fix.
link to original post

The purpose of power substations is to take long-distance high-tension line power and transform it down to distribution power. That means taking 345,000 volt power and turning it into 14,400 volt power. When you're dealing with voltages like that, you really need to space components far apart to prevent arcing. This is why power stations look like giant erector sets--you can't put this stuff in any kind of building--it's got to be outside.

That also makes it hard to modularize the layout. Transformers are giant, heavy, boxes filled with copper windings and heavy oil as a combination arc reducer and coolant. When you move them in and out of a power station, you have to calculate a safe route through all the energized stuff in its path. YouTube is packed with power station arcs from switching operations. Scary stuff.

Unfortunately, the nature of what you're working on practically mandates large open-air power stations. You can't do a right-angle bend in a high-voltage line, since coronal discharges in the bend will bleed your power tremendously. So you have to do a gradual curve, which takes room. This kind of limitation also works against modularization, which prefers small, tight, confined constructions, making it easier to plug and play.
link to original post

Rule #1 you can’t fight physics. Well explained Bill

What I can't understand is if this was a coordinated terrorist attack they would be doing it all at once, not piecemeal. Seems to me we just have a bunch of copy cat idiots, a group trying to get more money in the hands of solar/utilities or a group actually trying to make our transmission system more reliable. By that I mean, this piecemeal approach is not going to take down our entire grid and it gives us warning that it is actively being acted upon, giving us time to plan better and possibly put some sorts of protection in place (but I don't think loss of life would be warranted in this and the risk of that is HIGH attacking a substation). I guess it could be an actual terror group trying to figure out how best to take out the grid and they are just doing some experiments, but I also highly doubt this.'

TLDR imo it's copy cats, and the end result will be a stronger grid in the US.

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off the subject a little - not about just this terrorist attack -
I don't believe terrorist attacks can be stopped and they don't have to be sophisticated
in Manhattan in October a man killed 8 and injured 11 with his pickup truck - ran them down in the street


very powerful weapons can be purchased legally and anybody so inclined can cause a ton of mayhem


the pic is of weapons one of which is similar to the one used by the suspect in Boulder, Co who killed 10 in September of last year


the barrel and stock are often altered by firearm manufacturers to circumvent existing gun laws










https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/24/boulder-ar-556-pistol/



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