At the end of June 2016, the new Boguchanskaya hydroelectric power station, built on the Angara River, 444 km from its mouth, in the taiga-forest zone, reached full design capacity in Russia. In terms of capacity, this station is the 5th in the country, and in first place in terms of equipment with modern equipment.
Company Address
The city of Kodinsk, Kezhemsky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the construction site of the left bank, the integrated base No. 1, building 1 - the exact address of OJSC Boguchanskaya HPP. The telephone number of this organization is: (39143) 7-13-93. Also, the necessary information can be obtained via e-mail secrdir@boges.kodinsk.kras.ru. Company index: 663491.
A bit of history
The assignment for the construction of the Boguchanskaya HPP was approved by the USSR Ministry of Energy in 1969. Actually, the construction of this important site for the country began in 1974. The first builders of the station were employees of the Bratskgesstroy organization. They sent them to this facility from the Ust-Ilimsk hydroelectric station located above. Its construction by this time was already completely completed.
According to the project, the station’s capacity was to be 3,000 MW, and the pressure level was supposed to be raised to 208 m. The completion of the construction of the hydroelectric station for the project was scheduled for 1992. However, unfortunately, the difficult situation at the end of the last century in the country did not allow bring the plan to the end. Due to a lack of funds, the pace of construction of the station began to gradually decrease, and in 1994 it was virtually frozen.
Later, the country's leadership considered a project to build this station in two phases (in order to minimize costs). However, he did not receive the approval of the Glavgosexpertiza. The construction of the station was resumed only in 2007 as part of a public-private partnership. The memorandum confirming the intention to re-open the Boguchanskaya HPP was signed by Rusal and RAO UES of Russia two years before. At the time the station was completed, its readiness was 58%. The first two hydropower units were commissioned at the Boguchanskaya HPP in 2012.
Station Features
The Boguchanskaya HPP, the photo of which is presented on the page, is a truly grandiose object. Its construction includes two huge dams - rock-fill (1961.3 m) and concrete (828.7 m). Thus, the total length of the pressure head of the station is 2690 m. The highway is currently passing through both dams. That is, the hydroelectric power station also serves as a reliable bridge across the Angara, the only one within a radius of 130 km.
The station dam has two spillways. The first (bottom type) is characterized by a throughput of 7060 m 3 / s. The second spillway (surface) has a length of 90 m and can damp the flow passing through it.
The building of the hydroelectric power station is distinguished by a design typical for such structures. It is located behind the station part of the dam. The building is divided into 9 sections along the length, in each of which one vertical hydraulic unit with a capacity of 333 MW is installed. Turbines rotated by a stream of water drive 370 MVA generators. From them, electricity is supplied to step-down transformers with a voltage of 500 kV and 220 kV. Power is supplied by the station through a closed switchgear adjacent to the building of the SEC on the left bank of the Angara.
Performance
The aggregate capacity of units of such a grandiose structure as the Boguchanskaya Hydroelectric Power Station is currently 3,000 MW. Generates a new Angarsk station 20% of all electricity consumed by the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In the first quarter of 2016 alone, the hydroelectric station supplied it in the amount of 3.126 billion kWh.
The greatest height of the concrete dam of the station is 96 m, bulk - 77 m. The width of the last was brought to the level of 20 m, and about 30.5 million m 3 of soil was spent on its construction
Organizers of the construction of hydroelectric power stations
Initially, the decision to build this station, important for the country's economy, was made, as already mentioned, by the USSR Ministry of Energy. At that time, the object was given the name "Boguchangesstroy". In 1993, on the basis of this organization, OJSC Boguchangesstroy was formed. In 2002, the company changed its name. At present, the facility is registered as Boguchanskaya HPP.
In the spring of 2006, RusHydro and Rusal signed an agreement on the implementation of the BEMO project, in addition to completing the hydropower plant, which includes the construction of the Baguchansky aluminum smelter. The financing of both facilities was subsequently conducted through offshore companies. Such a scheme was chosen on the initiative of the Rusal concern.
According to the Water Code of the HPP, Boguchanskaya is federal property. Therefore, private companies financed only the construction of this facility. All expenses for the preparation of the flood zone were borne by the state.
Of course, not everything went smoothly during the construction of such an important facility. Greenpeace, in particular, opposed the construction of this station on the Angara. This well-known environmental society did not like the fact that the construction of such a large facility as the Boguchanskaya HPP was carried out without first having to go through the EIA procedure that is mandatory in the Russian Federation today. However, the construction of the station was not suspended due to claims by Greenpeace. The organizers of the completion of the hydroelectric station explained the reluctance to undergo the EIA procedure with the current legislation. The fact is that the hydroelectric power station project was finally approved back in Soviet times. The norms of modern legislation prescribing an EIA are not retroactive.
The Public Chamber of Russia expressed some concern about the construction of this facility. This organization, in particular, raised questions about the preservation of historical and cultural heritage in the flood zone and considered cases of non-payment of compensation to farmers and non-provision of housing for immigrants.
Of course, the station design developed by Soviet engineers over the past 25 years is morally very outdated. Therefore, the main organizer of the construction of the Boguchanskaya HPP (or rather, its continuation) - RAO "UES of Russia" - in 2006 instructed the Hydroproject Institute to carry out work to correct it.
Initially, it was even supposed to raise the station's power indicators to 4000 MW. However, in connection with the stricter requirements for permitting flood flow in our time, the Institute’s specialists had to design an additional spillway No. 2, which was not in the first draft. As a result of this, the power of the station again had to be reduced to 3,000 MW.
Economic importance
To date, this new hydroelectric power station on the Angara has fully supplied electricity to the recently completed Boguchansky aluminum smelter, which produces more than 600 thousand tons of non-ferrous metal per year. In addition, the station transfers power to the Taishet plant and to many other industrial enterprises of the Lower Angara region.
Flooding zone of the Boguchanskaya HPP: area
Unfortunately, the construction of this hydroelectric power station has changed the ecology of the region quite seriously. After the construction of the station was completed, 1,494 km² of land were flooded, including 296 km² of arable land, pastures and hayfields. The lost stock of trees and shrubs amounted to 9.56 million m 3 . Another 10 million m 3 of wood was cut down in the 80s of the last century, at the beginning of the construction of the station.
At present, the management of JSC Boguchanskaya HPP is forced to eliminate various environmental problems that arose after the construction of dams. For example, in the flood zone, among other things, 96 km 2 of peat bogs turned out to be under water. Of course, this ultimately caused river pollution. Peat as a very light material from some wetlands (their total area is 13 km 2 ) began to simply surface. According to environmentalists, this negative process will continue for at least another 20 years. Currently, with the aim of clearing the river, measures are being periodically carried out to tow and secure peat islands.
Reservoir
The area of the Boguchansky reservoir is 2326 km 2 . Moreover, most of it is located on the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (1961 km 2 ). The length of the Boguchansky reservoir is 375 km. At the same time, its full volume is 58.2 km 3 , and useful - 2.3 km 3 . The filling of the reservoir during the construction of the hydroelectric station took place in two stages. In 2012, its level was brought to the level of 185 m, and in 2015 - to the design 208 m. Currently, the Boguchansky reservoir carries out daily regulation of river flow and seasonal - lateral flow. Fluctuations in the level of this man-made sea during the year do not exceed 1 m.
Settlements in the flood zone
The construction of the Boguchanskaya hydroelectric station caused 29 villages and towns to go under water. 25 of them are located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and 4 in the Irkutsk Region. The largest flooded settlement is the district center of Kezhma.
A total of 12,173 people were resettled from the flood zone. Most of the people were removed from the territory of the future reservoir in the last century. In the 80s, approximately 8,000 people were resettled from the zone. At that time, people were provided with new housing both in nearby cities and in villages. In 2008-2011 4905 people were resettled from the flood zone. This time, housing was provided only in cities. In 2012, 194 people moved to a new place of residence, and later more than 1,500.
City Kodinsk
The loss of a large number of arable land and the need to leave habitable places for thousands of people - these are the consequences of flooding. Boguchanskaya hydroelectric power station, however, to date, just a huge amount of electricity is issued, which is essential for the national economy. In any case, it is believed that the construction of this important facility, despite the necessary losses, was economically justified.
In addition, in the immediate vicinity of the station, a new large settlement was also built. They called the city of power engineers Kodinsky, who stood in the taiga . Its construction began in 1977. To date, its eastern outskirts are 8 kilometers from the flooded Angara floodplain.
In 2016, according to statistics, about 16,227 people lived in Kodinsk. In addition to hydropower plants, citizens have the opportunity to work at a local wood processing enterprise, at Alliance ED LLC, JV Biva, and at a branch of LLC DOZ Sibiryak +. The city has cinemas, schools, kindergartens, there are many shops of various specializations.
Archaeological and historical sites
Before the formation of the Boguchansky reservoir, large-scale excavations were carried out in the territory of the flood. Scientists investigated about 40 thousand km 2 of land and described more than 130 archaeological sites. In addition, ethnographic surveys were carried out. As a result, several important objects of wooden architecture were transferred from the flood zone.
Where is the Boguchanskaya HPP located?
This hydroelectric power station enters the Angarsk cascade and is its fourth lower stage. In addition to the Ust-Ilyinskaya station, upstream from Boguchanskaya there are also Bratsk and Irkutsk. This hydroelectric power station is located in the Kodinsky section of the river. At this point, the Angara crosses a large rock mass from the Ordovician and sedimentary rocks of the Cambrian period. At the reservoir level, the width of the river is 2-3 km. The rocks in this place come very close to the channel. On the left bank there are small terraces. The right one is very steep and steep. Behind the course itself (downstream), the Angara expands to 10 km.
Impact on the ecology of the region
Like any other hydroelectric power station, Boguchanskaya had a tremendous impact on the environment. The ecosystem of the region after the construction of this station has undergone significant changes. Even the river taiga landscape, which has existed here for centuries, has largely been replaced by a lake one. This, in turn, led to a significant reduction in the number of rheophilic (preferring fast water) fish species. However, fortunately, the population of limnophilic (lacustrine) has also increased.
The quality of the water in the reservoir itself is determined mainly by the cleanliness indicators in the flood zone located above the Ust-Ilimsk hydroelectric station. This situation was due to the low inflow of the Angara in this place. According to the assurances of environmentalists, rotting at the bottom of a forest reservoir and pop-up peat, of course, have an impact on water quality. However, in this case, of course, there is no need to talk about any environmental disaster.
At 6-8 km around the reservoir, the climate also changed a little. A large amount of water "cushions" the weather. In summer, in the vicinity of the facility it became a little cooler, and in autumn it became warmer. Due to the discharge of water below the hydroelectric station, a long ice-free wormwood appeared in the river. The main negative consequence of this phenomenon was an increase in foggy days in the vicinity in the warm season.