Russian Renewable Energy Accident kills 11, with 32 missing.

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- At least 11 people died and 32 were missing after an accident at Russia’s largest hydropower station that halted electricity production and threatened aluminum output at United Co. Rusal and steelmaking at Evraz Group SA.

A “water surge” flooded the turbine room at the Sayano- Shushenskaya station in eastern Siberia, state-run owner OAO RusHydro said. Three units were destroyed and another three damaged in the incident at about 8:15 a.m. local time, it said.

One man suffering from hypothermia was pulled alive from the plant after about 16 hours, while at least 11 were injured, spokesman Yevgeny Druzyaka said by phone from the site.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a commission to oversee restoration of output at the plant, which provides more than a quarter of RusHydro’s generation capacity. Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, said annual output may drop 500,000 metric tons after the accident. Evraz, Russia’s second-biggest steelmaker, said its operations were affected.

“This is the first serious accident” in Russia’s power industry since the government finished the breakup and sale of Unified Energy Systems last July, said Dmitry Skryabin and Mikhail Rasstrigin, analysts at VTB Capital in Moscow.