Ural Electric Power System (UPS) during the Great Patriotic War: the Struggle for the Sustainability and Uninterrupted Energy Supply of the Military-Industrial Complex Enterprises

The proposed article analyzes the reasons and conditions for the transformation of the Ural electric power grid into the main energy system of the country and the "backbone" of the Ural military-industrial complex, which consisted of 64 enterprises of the People's Commissariats of Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metallurgy, Chemical (NKHP), Tank (NKTP) and Aviation (NKAP) Industries, Armaments (NKV) and Ammunition (NKB). These enterprises were powered by electricity from 28 power plants operating in parallel mode and under a single centralized dispatch control. Working in the unified power grid required military–industrial complex enterprises to strictly comply with the standards (limits) of power consumption and electric power industry enterprises to supply electricity in the necessary amount, measured in kilowatt hours, and of proper quality, measured by frequency and voltage. Violation of these requirements increased the risks of accidents and stoppage of military products manufacturing. For the first time in the historical literature, the role of the GKO of the USSR in maintaining the stability of the Ural electric power system and organizing the rational use of electricity as the most valuable productive resource of the belligerent country is shown.