The capital of any state is practically the most energy-intensive city in the country. This fact is not surprising, considering that the main city of the state is often adjoined by many smaller settlements, which are also actively involved in energy consumption. Moscow was not an exception, as well as its region, which is provided with electricity thanks to a power plant called Zagorskaya PSPP.
Location conditions
This industrial facility is located within the Kunya River Valley (it is a left tributary of the Dubna River). Zagorskaya PSPP is located in the area, the geological conditions of which experts characterize as quite complex. The station is deployed in the taiga-forest zone with significant humidity (about 629 mm of precipitation falls during the year).
Powertrain General Information
Zagorskaya PSPP is a hydro-storage type power plant located in the Sergiev Posad district of the Moscow region. It is the largest of the stations of this type that exist in Russia. The facility is considered the most important structural “core” of the entire energy system of the Central region, which takes part in the regulation of the frequency of currents and power flows, and also covers peak loads at any time of the day or night in the Central and Moscow energy systems. The station was built between 1974 and 2003. Its capacity is 1200 MW. It is owned by RusHydro Public Joint Stock Company.
Structural components
Zagorskaya PSPP is divided into two phases - the first (operational now) and the second (located in the construction phase).
The first phase of the station (average annual energy production is 1.932 billion kWh) consists of the following departments and units:
- Station node.
- The pool is accumulating top.
- Pressure pipelines.
- The water intake is reversible.
- Lower storage pool.
Consider the station node in more detail. He is big enough. Its structural units are:
- Station building.
- Installation site.
- Mating retaining walls of the first and second tiers.
- Downstream Mount
- Mating pressure-earthen dams.
- Switchgear open type 500 kV (outdoor switchgear).
- Service and production building.
- Transformer workshop.
- Thyristor starter rooms.
- Drainage systems.
Zagorskaya PSPP (address: Russia, Moscow Region, Bogorodskoye settlement) was built of reinforced concrete and has a length of 138 meters, a width of 73 meters, and a height of 50 meters. The construction consists of five sections, in four of which one hydraulic unit is located. In the central (fifth) section there are two hydraulic units, as well as a pumping station for the drainage system. In order to carry out installation or dismantling of hydraulic units, two bridge cranes are used, the lifting capacity of each of them is 320 tons. The hydraulic units themselves consist of engine generators and pump turbines, which were manufactured at the Leningrad Metal Plant.
Station Features
An open switchgear serves to provide communication between the station itself and the power system. Six units of the object are connected in two blocks connected to the busbars of the switchgear, which are in the form of a quadrangle. This is done to simplify the design, but at the same time reduces the reliability of the unit. The outdoor switchgear is connected to the power system using two 500 kV power lines (Turbino substation and Kostroma state district power station).
Second Stage Construction
The construction of another station node (Zagorskaya PSPP-2) takes place several hundred meters south of the first stage. The second phase is similar to the first and in the future will have an average annual electricity generation of 1.1 billion kWh. Design capacity is planned at 840 MW.
Value for the region
Zagorskaya PSPP, the photo of which is given below, is capable of performing the most important functions, including:
- The ability to parry a wide variety of problems in the energy system, minimizing emergency situations. Due to the highest maneuverability of the station (its units can change their power very quickly), it is able to dampen disturbances in the power grid. Simply put, the PSPP is an operational reserve of power, which, if necessary, can be put into operation as soon as possible. For this reason, the plant’s hydraulic units can be launched up to three dozen times a day or several hundred times a month.
- The hydraulic units of the station are also used as synchronous compensators, the task of which is to reduce reactive power, which can increase the voltage above normal values.
Environmental impact
If we talk about the exact location of the station, then this is the Moscow region, pos. Bogorodskoe. Zagorsk PSP It doesn’t affect the environment as much as classic hydroelectric power stations. This is explained by the smaller size of the existing reservoir. Since the PSPP operates with rather sharp and large fluctuations in the water level in artificial reservoirs, they cannot be used as a recreation zone or used for economic purposes. They are considered exclusively as technogenic reservoirs, although in reality, reservoirs are a favorite place for the local population, who regularly bathe and fish in them. It is also important that the work of the station made it possible to balance the functioning of the largest thermal power plants in the Moscow Region, and this ultimately reduced the emissions of various polluting elements and substances into the environment.
Modernization and capacity increase
Zagorsk PSP-2 as the object was officially registered on April 26, 2006. The Hydroproject Research Institute was identified as the general designer. In the spring of 2007, they began the development of the pit of the new station. July 10, 2007 solemnly laid the first stone in the foundation of a new power plant. In the autumn of the same year, contracts were signed, on the basis of which deliveries of the implemented hydraulic power equipment should be carried out. Concrete work was started on July 18, 2008. In 2010, the speed of construction work increased significantly. In the same year, the most powerful impellers of turbine pumps were delivered to the site.
In 2011, the station was half ready. The installation of the first water conduit has been completed and work on the second line has begun. In December 2012, a test launch of the first pair of hydraulic units of the PSPP-2 was carried out.
Emergency
In September 2013 there was a flooding of the machine room and the site near the PSPP-2 station. Fifteen employees who were at that time in the facility were able to leave the danger zone in an organized manner. A special commission established to conduct a detailed investigation of the incident established that the flooding was due to a violation of the integrity of the seams and inlets of unfinished water conduits. Further verification showed that there are significant soil erosion on the right side of the building. This incident led to the fact that the commissioning of the PSPP-2 was postponed to 2018.
And in conclusion. Many are interested in the question of what is buzzing at the Zagorsk PSP. The answer is very simple - this monotonous sound is created by the power lines available on it.