Nizhnekamsk Hydroelectric Power Station in Tatarstan is a unique and the only energy company in the republic connected to the UES of Russia. Thanks to this enterprise, which is part of the Tatenergo holding, residents of the region are uninterruptedly supplied with electricity.
General information
The Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric station of the channel type is located in the Republic of Tatarstan on the Kama River near Yelabuga and Naberezhnye Chelny. They began to build a power plant in 1963, and it began to work only in 1979. HPP facilities include:
- concrete dam for spillway;
- alluvial channel dam;
- floodplain dams;
- gateways
- hydroelectric building.
The maximum height of the floodplain and channel dam is 30 m, and the total length is 2,976 km. Rail and road are located directly on the dam. On average, more than 2 billion kWh of electricity is generated during the year.
After the construction of retaining structures, the Nizhnekamsk reservoir was formed. Currently, the NPU is 63.3 m. Raising the level will allow generating more electricity, however, it has been lobbyed for several decades by the authorities of neighboring regions.
Construction history
The Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric station began operating in 1979, when the reservoir filling level reached 62 m. This level is the minimum acceptable, since it is the hydroelectric station that ensures the operation of the hydroelectric station and the passage of ships through locks. The reservoir flooded 78,000 hectares of nearby land, but 173,000 hectares were initially allocated for the construction of the hydroelectric station in the republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Udmurtia and the Perm Region. Before the flooding of the surrounding territories, deforestation, relocation of local residents, and transfer of infrastructure facilities and communications were carried out. The last (16th) power unit was launched in 1987. By 1990, the management of the hydraulic system planned to raise the reservoir level to 68 m, which caused a wave of protests from various environmental organizations. Thus, they did not raise the level. The NHRIs were raised to the level of 63.5 m only in 2002 on the basis of a joint agreement of four regions.
Problems associated with raising the reservoir level
According to project documentation, the level should be at around 68 m. However, now it is intermediate, which provoked a number of problems from the point of view of ecology and economics. As the Nizhnekamsk Hydroelectric Power Station produces less electricity, shipping is hindered, and protective engineering structures began to collapse. In addition, water blooms from year to year. 50% of the reservoir area is shallow (depth does not reach 2 m), which contradicts sanitary standards. If the level is raised to 68 m, a large number of territories in nearby regions will be flooded.
Crash
In 2010, an explosion occurred at the Nizhnekamsk Hydroelectric Power Station, which was preceded by smoke. As a result, 2 employees of the enterprise were killed, 10 - injured. The source of the explosion was a damaged synchronous compressor, taking air for the needs of the power plant. The cause was an oil leak, which subsequently heated up and mixed with air. However, the accident did not affect the operation of the enterprise.
The only power station in Tatarstan is the Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric station. Naberezhnye Chelny and Yelabuga are the nearest settlements to it. The hydropower plant began operating in 1979, but so far it has not reached its design capacity. This is due to the fact that the reservoir level was supposed to reach 68 m, but now it is at the level of 63.5 m. The Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric station is connected to the Unified Energy System of the Russian Federation and is economically important for the region.