How it works: Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP (photo and video). Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP (31 photos) Drawings of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP

The III Siberian Blog Summit ended yesterday (website of the event - http://www.sbsum.ru/), which this year the organizers from Krasnoyarsk decided to hold in Khakassia. Two completely different days turned out to be very eventful. We are with Danlux visited both days.

1. On the first day, for experts, partners and a few bloggers, an excursion was organized not just anywhere, but to the highest dam in Russia - the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station named after. Not empty. As part of the planned excursion and educational program, we visited the crest of the dam, the observation deck on the right bank, the observation deck of the coastal spillway, visited the engine room, saw the central control panel.

2. The program began with a long drive to the observation deck, from which you can clearly see where will he go water when it comes out of the tunnels (see next photo) in case of its release. We were told that the spillway was essentially built for emergencies. For many years the dam has coped with different levels of water, including during periods of high water, and will continue to cope. But if necessary, it will be possible to open a bypass channel.

4. We spent very little time at this lookout - but everyone who wanted to, managed to take a photo on an iPhone / iPad and immediately tweet.

5. And then we went to the observation deck on the right bank. Both on! I was here as a child! Well, right on this site. For the passage of visitors, this place has been closed for a long time. I was even sure that it no longer exists, at least because a bypass channel was laid nearby.

6. And I also remember this rock! It also had an iron staircase up and a small platform at the top. Even as children, we were allowed to go up there, because from there an even more gorgeous view of the dam opened up and, most valuable, you could see the water level on the other side of the dam. If tomorrow I find these children's photos with my parents, I won't be lazy and post them :) I also remember that there was a stream nearby. Straight up the rock. We drank that water, clinging to a stone wall and typing in our palms.

7. And then we went to the crest of the dam. The view from there is mesmerizing. It's just brilliant and it's hard to believe that it's man-made.

8. You can only see something from there through a telephoto. Not only people and cars look like toys, but also small buildings.

10. It can be seen that the rocks on both sides of the dam are reinforced to prevent collapses.

11.

12. You can also see the bridge on which we drove. During the construction of the dam, this railway bridge led to a cement plant, but now it is only for cars and pedestrians. Denis once walked along it on foot and even photographed a famous radio host there.

13. The width of the ridge at the top is 25 meters. The lower part of the ridge (9 meters wide) is intended for the passage of vehicles serving the dam. And on the upper part there are huge cranes that, when necessary, travel along the rails and lift the valves of the water conduits.

14. We were allowed to visit both below and above. From the top there is a view of the Sayano-Shushenskoye reservoir.

15. You can also see the water level. Once (2 years ago) I was already on the crest of the dam and even sailed on a boat on this reservoir. .

16.

17.

18. The entire tour was accompanied by employees of the press service of the SSH HPP. Very tactful and loyal people. We were only reminded a couple of times that this is not an amusement park. Because it wasn't obvious to everyone.

19. And even the “chief” did not fight this, but helped to collect the wanderers.

20.

21. Denis' first photo report about the trip is available.

22. While we were driving along the dam and around it, we saw many interesting points from which we would like to take pictures, but, although we did not behave indecently like Krasnoyarsk bloggers, they looked after us and stopped all our desires to climb somewhere else only in that moment when we saw some stairs and reminded us that this is not a photo tour :)

23. On the run, they managed to take a photo for the family archive.

24. Through this tunnel they left the crest of the dam into the rock. The length of the tunnel is 1100 meters.

25. Demonstrative photo showing Samyang 14mm full frame distortions :) The dam is excessively squashed here. Of course, it is more sheer (but what coverage!).

26. Tomorrow there will be a continuation of the walk around the SSH HPP and a link to the archive with all the photos for participants and those who are ill.

A hydroelectric power station is a hydroelectric power plant that converts the energy of a water stream into electricity. The flow of water, falling on the blades, rotates the turbines, which, in turn, set in motion generators that convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Hydroelectric power plants are built on riverbeds, and dams and reservoirs are usually built.

Principle of operation

The basis of the operation of a hydroelectric power station is the energy of falling water. Due to the difference in levels, river water forms a continuous flow from source to mouth. The dam is an integral part of almost all hydroelectric power plants, it blocks the movement of water in the riverbed. A reservoir is formed in front of the dam, creating a significant difference in water levels before and after it.

The upper and lower levels of the water are called the pool, and the difference between them is the height of the fall or pressure. The principle of operation is quite simple. A turbine is installed on the downstream, on the blades of which the flow from the upstream is directed. The falling flow of water sets the turbine in motion, and it rotates the rotor of the electric generator through a mechanical connection. The greater the pressure and the amount of water passing through the turbines, the higher the power of the hydroelectric power plant. The efficiency is about 85%.

Peculiarities

There are three factors for efficient energy production in hydroelectric power plants:

Year-round guaranteed water supply.
Favorable terrain. The presence of canyons and drops contribute to hydraulic construction.
Greater slope of the river.

The operation of a hydroelectric power plant has several, including comparative features:

The cost of electricity produced is significantly less than at other types of power plants.
Renewable energy source.
Depending on the amount of power a hydroelectric power plant needs to produce, its generators can be quickly switched on and off.
Compared to other types of power plants, hydroelectric power plants have much less impact on the air environment.
Basically, HPPs are objects remote from consumers.
The construction of hydroelectric power plants is very capital intensive.
Reservoirs occupy large areas.
The construction of dams and the construction of reservoirs blocks many species of fish from reaching spawning grounds, which radically changes the nature of fisheries. But at the same time, fish farms are being set up in the reservoir itself, fish stocks are increasing.

Kinds

Hydroelectric power plants are divided according to the nature of the erected structures:

Dam hydroelectric power stations are the most common stations in the world in which the pressure is created by a dam. They are built on rivers with a predominantly slight slope. To create a large pressure under the reservoirs, large areas are flooded.
Derivative - stations built on mountain rivers with a large slope. The required pressure is created in the bypass (derivation) channels at a relatively low water flow. Part of the river flow through the water intake is sent to the pipeline, which creates a pressure that drives the turbine.
Hydrostorage stations. They help the power system cope with peak loads. The hydraulic units of such stations are capable of operating in pumping and generating mode. They consist of two reservoirs at different levels, connected by a pipeline with a hydroelectric unit inside. At high loads, water is discharged from the upper reservoir to a lower one, while the turbine rotates and electricity is generated. When demand is low, water is pumped back from the low storage to the higher storage.

Hydropower of Russia

To date, more than 100 MW of electricity are generated in Russia at 102 hydroelectric power plants. The total capacity of all hydraulic units of Russian HPPs is about 45 million kW, which corresponds to the fifth place in the world. The share of HPPs in the total amount of electricity generated in Russia is 21% - 165 billion kWh / year, which also corresponds to the 5th place in the world. In terms of the number of potential hydropower resources, Russia is in second place after China with an indicator of 852 billion kWh, but the degree of their development is only 20%, which is significantly lower than in almost all countries of the world, including developing ones. In order to develop the hydro potential and develop the Russian energy sector, in 2004 a federal program to ensure the reliable operation of functioning hydroelectric power plants, the completion of existing construction projects, the design and construction of new stations.

List of the largest hydroelectric power plants in Russia

Krasnoyarsk HPP - Divnogorsk, on the Yenisei River.
Bratsk HPP - Bratsk, r. Angara.
Ust-Ilimskaya - Ust-Ilimsk, r. Angara.
Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP- Sayanogorsk.
Boguchanskaya HPP - on the river. Angara.
Zhigulevskaya HPP - Zhigulevsk, r. Volga.
Volzhskaya hydroelectric power station - Volzhsky, Volgograd region, Volga river.
Cheboksary - Novocheboksarsk, the Volga River.
Bureyskaya HPP - pos. Talakan, Bureya river.
Nizhnekamsk HPP - Chelny, r. Kama.
Votkinskaya - Tchaikovsky, r. Kama.
Chirkeyskaya - river. Sulak.
Zagorskaya PSP is a river. Kunya.
Zeyskaya - the city of Zeya, r. Zeya.
Saratov HPP is a river. Volga.

Volzhskaya HPP

In the past, the Stalingrad and Volgograd hydroelectric power stations, and now the Volzhskaya, located in the city of the same name Volzhsky on the Volga River, are a medium-pressure station of the channel type. Today it is considered the largest hydroelectric power plant in Europe. The number of hydroelectric units is 22, the electric power is 2592.5 MW, the average annual amount of electricity generated is 11.1 billion kWh. The capacity of the hydroelectric complex is 25,000 m3/s. Most of the electricity generated is supplied to local consumers.

The construction of the hydroelectric power station started in 1950. The launch of the first hydroelectric unit was carried out in December 1958. The Volga hydroelectric power station was fully operational in September 1961. The commissioning played a crucial role in unifying the significant energy systems of the Volga region, the Center, the South and the energy supply of the Lower Volga region and Donbass. Already in the 2000s, several upgrades were made, which made it possible to increase the total capacity of the station. In addition to generating electricity, the Volzhskaya HPP is used to irrigate arid land masses in the Trans-Volga region. At the facilities of the hydroelectric complex, road and rail crossings across the Volga were arranged, providing communication between the regions of the Volga region.

The Yenisei River in the south-east of the Republic of Khakassia in the Sayan Canyon at the exit of the river into the Minusinsk Basin ... November 4, 1961 the first team of surveyors of the Institute? arrived in the mining village of Maina in order to survey 3 competing sites for the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, which has a design of a unique arch-gravity dam at its base. Surveyors, geologists, hydrologists worked in frost and bad weather, 12 drilling rigs in three shifts? from the ice the bottom of the Yenisei. In July 1962, the expert commission chose the final version - the Karlovsky alignment. 20 km downstream, the construction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya satellite, the counter-regulating Mainskaya hydroelectric power station, was planned.

The creation of a dam of this type in the conditions of the wide alignment of the Yenisei and the harsh climate of Siberia had no analogues in the world. The arch-gravity dam of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most reliable hydraulic structure this type...

The Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP was built by young people. The Komsomol organization in construction arose in 1963, and in 1967 the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League announced the construction of the All-Union shock Komsomol construction. So, sixteen girls - graduates of the Maina secondary school - decided to become hydro-builders, and received the profession of plasterers-painters at the school in the village of Maina. They created a detachment, which they called "Red scarves". Then everyone joined the evening branch of the Divnogorsk Hydrotechnical College and successfully graduated, after which many continued their studies at universities, combining it with work in construction. And from the city of Makeevka, on Komsomol vouchers, a detachment of boarding school graduates arrived in the amount of 17 people. All? Makeevtsy? also received specialties at the Mainsky Uchkombinat.

Year after year, construction became more and more “Komsomol” and more and more All-Russian. In the summer of 1979, in construction the largest hydroelectric power station student construction teams with a total number of 1700 people took part, in 1980 - more than 1300 people from all over the country. By this time, 69 own Komsomol youth groups had already formed at the construction site, 15 of them were named.

The largest production associations of the USSR created new super-powerful equipment for new hydroelectric stations. So, all the unique equipment of the SSH HPP was manufactured by domestic plants: hydro turbines - by the production association for turbine construction? Leningrad Metal Plant?, hydro generators - by the Leningrad Industrial Electrotechnical Association? Elektrosila? Turbine runners were delivered to the upper reaches of the Yenisei by a waterway almost 10,000 kilometers long, across the Arctic Ocean. Thanks to the original technical solution - the installation of temporary impellers on the first two turbines, capable of operating at intermediate water pressures - it became possible to begin operation of the first stage of the station before the completion of construction and installation works. Thanks to this, the national economy of the country received an additional 17 billion kWh of electricity. Having produced 80 billion kWh by 1986, the construction fully returned to the state the costs that were spent on its construction. Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP became the top hydroelectric power plant in the Yenisei cascade and one of the largest in the world: installed capacity - 6.4 million kW and average annual output- 22.8 billion kWh of electricity.

The pressure front of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is formed by a unique concrete arch-gravity dam 245 m high, 1074.4 m long along the crest, 105.7 m wide at the base and 25 m along the crest. , which has a radius of 600 m along the upper face and a central angle of 102 ° , and in the lower part the dam is a three-center arches, and the central section with a spanning angle of 37 ° is formed by arches similar to the upper ones.

In Russia, hydroelectric power plants are mainly based on gravity-type dams. In addition to the SSHHPP, the Gergebil hydroelectric power station in Dagestan has an arch-gravity dam, but it is much smaller in size.

At present? Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP named after P. S. Neporozhny? is the most powerful source of coverage of peak power fluctuations in the Unified Energy System of Russia and Siberia. One of the main regional consumers of electricity from the SSHHPP is the Sayanogorsk aluminum plant.

The Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is of particular interest as an object of tourism. The HPP has its own museum. Due to the regime of the object, a visit to the museum is carried out through regional excursion bureaus, and group visits to the museum are also allowed by prior agreement with the administration of the museum and the management of the SSH HPP. To do this, just call the HPP and arrange an excursion. It is advisable to agree in advance, since in any case it will be necessary to coordinate with the security service. In the village of power engineers Cheryomushki, located 2 km from the HPP, you can stay at the Borus Hotel. A tram runs from the village to the HPP, which I will talk about next time. If you are by car, you can leave it on the observation deck in front of the first checkpoint. I also recommend to without fail visit the observation deck in front of the hydroelectric power station at night - the dam and the monument to the builders of the hydroelectric power station are very beautifully illuminated

SShGES them. P. S. Neporozhny is a high-pressure hydroelectric power plant of the dam type, the most powerful power plant in Russia. The main facilities of the station are located in the Karlovo range, in this place the Yenisei flows in a deeply incised canyon-like valley. It is quite difficult to convey the scale of this gigantic structure with the help of a photograph. For example, the length of the crest of the dam is more than one kilometer, and the height is 245 meters, higher than the main building of Moscow State University.

1. The pressure front of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is formed by a unique concrete arch-gravity dam, which is the highest dam of this type in the world. If you climb one of the slopes of the gorge, a beautiful view of the dam itself, the tailpipe and the Sayano-Shushenskoye reservoir, with a total volume of 31 km³, opens up.

3. About eleven thousand different sensors are installed in the body of the dam, which control the state of the entire structure and its elements.

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4. The construction of the dam began in 1968 and lasted seven years. The amount of concrete laid in the dam - 9.1 million m³ - would be enough to build a highway from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok.

5. The diameter of such a "pipe" of the turbine conduit is 7.5 meters.

6. Top view of the machine room and the administrative building of the station.

7. A few words about the principle of the dam. Any dam other than storage must pass a certain amount of water. Each of the ten hydroelectric units of the SSHHPP can pass 350 m³ of water per second. Now 4 out of 10 hydroelectric units are in operation, and in winter their capacity is quite sufficient.
The white area is a water well of the operational spillway, this area can easily accommodate a football field for the World Cup, though it will turn out to be “football on ice”.

8. During floods and floods, the gates of the operational spillway are opened. It is designed to discharge excess water inflow, which cannot be passed through the HPP hydroelectric units or accumulated in the reservoir. The maximum design capacity of the operational spillway is 13600 m³ (that's five 50-meter swimming pools with 10 lanes) per second! A sparing regime for a water well located under an operational spillway is considered to be an expense of 7000 - 7500 m³.

9. The length of the crest of the dam, taking into account the coastal insets, is 1074 meters, the width along the base is 105 meters, along the crest - 25. The dam is cut into the rocks of the banks to a depth of 10-15 meters.
Stability and strength are ensured by the action of the dam's own weight (by 60%) and partially by the emphasis of the upper arched part against the banks (by 40%).

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11. Coastal fortifications.

12. From the dam you can see the village of Cheryomushki, which is connected to the hydroelectric power station by a highway and an unusual tram line.
In 1991, several city trams were purchased in Leningrad and converted into two-cabin ones for the railway track without reversal rings, left over from the time of the construction of the hydroelectric power station. Now free trams run from the village to the hydroelectric power station with a frequency of one hour. Thus resolved transport problem for station workers and residents of Cheryomushki, and the only tram line in Khakassia has become a landmark of the village.

13. View of the Sayano-Shushenskoye reservoir from the entrance portal of the coastal spillway.

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14. The shore spillway consists of an inlet head, two free-flow tunnels, an outlet portal, a five-stage drop and a discharge channel.

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16. Despite the frosts, the ice on the reservoir rises quite late - usually at the end of January.

19. A coastal spillway during the passage of large floods will make it possible to carry out an additional flow of up to 4000 m³ / s and, thereby, reduce the load on the operational spillway of the station and ensure a sparing regime in the water well. The inlet head serves to organize a smooth entry of the water flow into two free-flow tunnels.

20. In winter, the portals are covered with heat shields.

21. The length of two tunnels is 1122 meters, with a section of 10x12 meters each, which is enough to accommodate 4 metro tunnels.

23. Exit portal. The estimated speed of water movement at the outlet of the tunnel is 22 m/s.

24. The five-stage drop consists of five extinguishing wells 100 m wide and 55 to 167 m long, separated by spillway dams. The drop will ensure the damping of the energy of the flow and a calm connection with the riverbed. The maximum flow velocities at the entrance to the upper well reach 30 m/s, at the junction with the river bed they decrease to - 4–5 m/s.
A 3D video about the launch of the first line of the onshore spillway.

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25. For a better idea of scale, this is an earlier photograph of the construction of the lower well. author gelio .

27. Two gantry cranes are installed on the crest of the dam to open the gates.

28. Yenisei is one of the largest rivers in Russia. The area of its basin, which provides inflow to the site of the hydroelectric power station, is about 180 thousand km², which is three times the size of the Republic of Khakassia.

29. Yenisei - the border between Western and Eastern Siberia. The left bank of the Yenisei ends the great West Siberian plains, and the right bank represents the realm of mountain taiga. From the Sayans to the Arctic Ocean, the Yenisei passes through all the climatic zones of Siberia. Camels live in its upper reaches, and polar bears live in its lower reaches.

30. Work of shamans...

32. Thanks to the photographer Valery from the press service of the SSHGES, who led me to this slope. The view is excellent. True, walking knee-deep in snow, and in some places waist-deep, was not easy.

The Yenisei River in the south-east of the Republic of Khakassia in the Sayan Canyon at the river's outlet into the Minusinsk Basin... November 4, 1961 project of a unique arch-gravity dam. Surveyors, geologists, hydrologists worked in frost and bad weather, 12 drilling rigs in three shifts "probed" the bottom of the Yenisei from the ice. In July 1962, the expert commission chose the final version - the Karlovsky site. 20 km downstream, the construction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya satellite, the counter-regulating Mainskaya hydroelectric power station, was planned.

View of the HPP from the observation deck

The Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP was built by young people. The Komsomol organization in construction arose in 1963, and in 1967 the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League announced the construction of the All-Union shock Komsomol construction. So, sixteen girls - graduates of the Maina secondary school - decided to become hydro-builders, and received the profession of plasterers-painters at the school in the village of Maina. They created a detachment, which they called the "Red Scarves". Then everyone joined the evening branch of the Divnogorsk Hydrotechnical College and successfully graduated, after which many continued their studies at universities, combining it with work in construction. And from the city of Makeevka, on Komsomol vouchers, a detachment of boarding school graduates arrived in the amount of 17 people. All "Makeevtsy" also received their specialties at the Mainsky Uchkombinat.
Construction of a hydroelectric power station. Photo of the SShGES museum

Year after year, construction became more and more "Komsomol", and more and more all-Russian. In the summer of 1979, student construction teams with a total number of 1,700 people took part in the construction of the largest hydroelectric power station, in 1980 - more than 1,300 people from all over the country. By this time, 69 own Komsomol youth groups had already formed at the construction site, 15 of them were named.
Construction of a hydroelectric power station. Photo from the museum at the SSHHPP

The largest production associations of the USSR created new super-powerful equipment for new hydroelectric stations. So, all the unique equipment of the SSH HPP was manufactured by domestic plants: hydro turbines - by the Leningrad Metal Plant turbine building production association, hydro generators - by the Electrosila Leningrad Electrotechnical Production Association, transformers - by the Zaporizhtransformator production association. Turbine runners were delivered to the upper reaches of the Yenisei by a waterway almost 10,000 kilometers long, across the Arctic Ocean. Thanks to the original technical solution - the installation of temporary impellers on the first two turbines, capable of operating at intermediate water pressures - it became possible to begin operation of the first stage of the station before the completion of construction and installation works. Thanks to this, the national economy of the country received an additional 17 billion kWh of electricity. Having produced 80 billion kWh by 1986, the construction fully returned to the state the costs that were spent on its construction. Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP became the top in the cascade of Yenisei hydroelectric power plants and one of the largest in the world: installed capacity - 6.4 million kW and average annual output - 22.8 billion kWh of electricity.

The pressure front of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is formed by a unique concrete arch-gravity dam 245 m high, 1074.4 m long along the crest, 105.7 m wide at the base and 25 m along the crest. , which has a radius of 600 m along the upper face and a central angle of 102 ° , and in the lower part the dam is a three-center arches, and the central section with a spanning angle of 37 ° is formed by arches similar to the upper ones.
The structure of the dam. Museum at SSHHPP

The Mainsky hydroelectric complex is located downstream of the Yenisei, 21.5 km from the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP. Its main task is to counter-regulate its tailwater, which makes it possible to smooth out level fluctuations in the river when the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP conducts deep load regulation in the power system. It is based on a conventional gravity dam and has 3 hydraulic units with a total capacity of 321,000 kW. The annual electricity generation of the Mainskaya HPP is 1.7 billion kWh.
Mainskaya hydroelectric dam

In Russia, hydroelectric power plants are mainly based on gravity-type dams. In addition to the SSHHPP, the Gergebil hydroelectric power station in Dagestan has an arch-gravity dam, but it is much smaller in size.
The slopes of the mountain around the hydroelectric power station resemble illustrations for films about agent 007

At present, the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP named after P. S. Neporozhny is the most powerful source of covering peak power fluctuations in the Unified Energy System of Russia and Siberia. One of the main regional consumers of electricity from the SSHHPP is the Sayanogorsk aluminum plant.

The Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is of particular interest as an object of tourism. The HPP has its own museum. Due to the regime of the object, a visit to the museum is carried out through regional excursion bureaus, and group visits to the museum are also allowed by prior agreement with the administration of the museum and the management of the SSH HPP. To do this, just call the HPP and arrange an excursion. It is advisable to agree in advance, since in any case it will be necessary to coordinate with the security service. In the village of power engineers Cheryomushki, located 2 km from the HPP, you can stay at the Borus Hotel. A tram runs from the village to the HPP, which I will talk about next time. If you are by car, you can leave it on the observation deck in front of the first checkpoint. I also recommend that you visit the observation deck in front of the hydroelectric power station at night - the dam and the monument to the builders of the hydroelectric power station are very beautifully illuminated
The final tram in front of the pass office. In front of the service parking on the pedestal, one of the same temporary impellers of hydraulic units is installed

Museum at SSHGES. Model showing the principle of operation of a hydraulic unit

Model of the complex of structures of the SSHHPP. In the center is the arch-gravity dam of the hydroelectric power station, with a machine room and a spillway device. To the right and below - outdoor switchgear (open switchgear), located in a small gorge, from which electricity goes through power lines to consumers. To the left is an additional coastal spillway under construction. I will talk about it next time.

Section of the dam of the SSHHPP and its turbine hall

View of the observation deck with a monument to the builders of the hydroelectric power station from the crest of the dam

A fragment of the monument to the builders of the hydroelectric power station. A small child showed his mother first at me (I was with a tripod, then at the monument) :)

And in a fragment of the monument, symbolizing a turbulent flow of water, only an attentive tourist will be able to see the images of fish and mermaids.

SSHGES at night. View from the observation deck

Well, for fans of geocaching. Not far from the observation deck, a cache has long been hidden. I am the first and only visitor in it so far :)

The project for the construction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP considered 4 options for the design of the dam: gravity, arch-gravity, arch and rockfill. In addition, at the stage technical project the variant of the arch-buttress dam was considered. As a result of comparing the options, an arch-gravitational one was chosen, which, as it seemed at that time, met the topographic and engineering-geological conditions of the alignment more than others, made it possible to more closely use the properties of concrete and transfer part of the perceived load to the rocky shores ...
The pressure front of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is formed by a unique concrete arch gravity dam 245 m high, 1066 m long along the crest, 105.7 m wide at the base, and 25 m along the crest. 9,075,000 cubic meters of concrete were laid in the dam (it would be to build a highway from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok). A dam of this type, built in a wide alignment, is the only one in the world.
The service bus, strainedly roaring with a tortured engine, climbs past the outdoor switchgear along a serpentine and dives into a tunnel that goes inside the rock of the left bank right up to the very ridge

View of the hydroelectric dam from the ridge

Structurally, the dam consists of right-bank and left-bank blind dams, a spillway dam, and a station dam. Its construction was supposed to be carried out in 3 stages. However, a number of conventions did not allow this to be achieved and the dam was built in 9 stages. By 1989, the construction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP dam was completed. In 1990, she was put under design pressure.
Length along the upper ridge - 1066 meters, width - 25 meters

Not everything in the history of the dam has been "smooth". One of the major problems was the detection of the increasing filtration of the dam body. In order to avoid washing out of concrete, an attempt was made to inject into the array according to the technology existing at that time. At the same time, intersection joints were re-cemented, and cracks were cemented through ascending wells. The injection effect was insignificant and short-lived. Filtration continued to increase.
Cranes for lifting gates. Steel multi-ton mastodons

In 1993, an agreement was reached between the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP and the French company Soletanche to use its technology to suppress water filtration through concrete. In 1995, experimental repair work with the use of polymer elastic, in comparison with cement mortar, materials based on epoxy resins. Trial repairs were successful - filtering was practically suppressed. Subsequently, the composition of French resins was determined, and work to suppress the seepage of the dam was subsequently carried out by our specialists.
Between the turbine hall of the hydroelectric power station and the dam. On the left are transformers, on the right is a system for squeezing water from the impeller

Water is supplied to the turbines through single-line steel-reinforced concrete conduits with a diameter of 7.5 m

Concrete, concrete, concrete, concrete, concrete

Reservoir of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP. Ahead - pontoons zapani, along the banks - floating wood

At the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, the spillway dam is located on the right bank of the channel and has 11 spillways

The construction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP was carried out with a phased development, which was very different from the design assumptions due to the underestimation of the real possibilities of construction in specific conditions. At any cost, it was necessary to ensure the input of power without the necessary responsibility for its reliability. To ensure the launch of the first hydroelectric unit at the appointed time, filling the reservoir was hastily started in order to manage to use the necessary volume of inflow from the insufficiently large autumn flow of the Yenisei. Only a sanitary pass was dropped into the lower pool. At the same time, the possibility of discharging water from the reservoir in case of any unforeseen circumstances was not provided. The first unit was put into operation at the end of December 1978 with a head of 60 m. Technological capabilities did not allow placing the required amount of concrete in the spillway dam, so it was not ready for the flood of 1979. For this reason, the flood was skipped in an uncontrolled emergency mode, so on May 23, 1979, the first unit and the HPP building were doomed and flooded. Aerators built into the walls of the spillways were supposed to provide air supply to the stream at the place where it descended from the toe of the spillway into the water well. In fact, the ejection effect did not work out, and instead of air being sucked into the aerator, water was injected into it from the spillway. Insufficient pre-project knowledge of the work of aerators exacerbated the situation at the construction site.
Uncontrolled discharge of the 1979 flood. Photo from the collection greycygnet

As a result of another powerful flood in 1985, 80% of the area of the bottom of the water well was destroyed. There was a complete destruction of the anchoring plates (slabs more than 2 meters thick were simply washed away as if they were made of foam), concrete preparation under them and rocks below the sole to a depth of 7 m. Anchors with a diameter of 50 mm were torn with characteristic traces of the onset of the metal yield point. The reason for these destructions is the poorly carried out repair of the bottom of the well after the flood of 1981 and a number of engineering miscalculations. One way or another, conclusions were drawn from these events, and in 1991, work on the reconstruction of the water well was completed.
Destroyed bottom of a water well. Photo from the collection greycygnet

The fundamental solution to the problem is the construction of an additional coastal spillway. Only such an engineering solution will prevent the excess of hydrodynamic pressure under the bottom of the well of the main spillway. In 2003, a decision was made to build it. The spillway consists of 2 tunnels laid inside the mountain of the right bank, as well as a bypass channel in the form of a 5-stage cascade. It is planned to complete the construction of a new onshore spillway at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP by 2010...

At the end of today's story, there are some archival photographs of the construction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP from the collection greycygnet and technik76

The turbine hall of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP was built on the basis of a spatial cross-rod structure consisting of unified metal elements of the system of the Moscow Architectural Institute (MARCHI). This design was first used in the practice of building hydroelectric power stations ...
The ceiling and walls of the turbine hall serve as a barrier for equipment and people from the external environment and are designed only for snow and wind loads and for a seismic effect of 7 points. At the same time, the loads associated with the action of hydraulic processes during the operation of spillways and units were not taken into account. Due to this omission, due to increased vibration, once every 3 years and necessarily after each idle spillway, it is necessary to examine thousands of structural units with the measurement of gaps in the docking units. Also, the presence of snow cover on the roof with a thickness of more than 20 cm should not be allowed.
Machine room of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP

The station was visited by many specialists from different countries of the world, who noted the special architectural expressiveness and elegance of the machine room, which are largely determined appearance designs of the MARCHI system. This is evidence that the design organization paid such attention to the architectural appearance that it was crowned with success. The architectural and artistic part of the design of the upper structure of the turbine hall was so deeply worked out, so insufficient was the attention to its technological execution.

Ten hydraulic turbines at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP marked a new stage in domestic hydropower engineering. Each RO-230/833-V-677 turbine, equipped with a stainless steel impeller 6.77 m in diameter and weighing 156 tons, is capable of developing a power of 650,000 kW at a design head of 194 m. The first two generators of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP were were put into operation with temporary hydraulic turbine runners capable of operating at low pressures, since the construction of the facilities was carried out in stages. This made it possible to generate electricity even at partial pressure, starting from 60 meters.
Huge heavy equipment and several technical floors are hidden under the generators. In the distance it can be seen that the sixth unit is under scheduled repairs - its generator has been partially dismantled.

The shaft of the hydraulic turbine is attached directly to the central part of the generator rotor, mounted on top, with the upper flange. The total weight of each generator assembly is 1860 tons. Maximum mounting - 890 tons. But even 890 tons is beyond the power of the station turbine assembly cranes, each of which has a limit of 500 tons. Therefore, when dismantling / installing the generator, both cranes are used in conjunction. This is how they took it out - http://greycygnet.livejournal.com/8 5122.html

Repaired generator of hydroelectric unit No. 6 close up

Assembly site with parts of the dismantled hydraulic unit

Three devices next to the traverse for extracting the generator are not parts of the generator itself, but of the KAG-15.75 generator switch. There was only one such switch at the station, the rest were replaced by modern and more reliable ABB-shnye HEC8

bolts

At present, the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is the most powerful source for covering peak power fluctuations in the Unified Energy System of Russia and Siberia. One of the main regional consumers of electricity is the Sayanogorsk aluminum plant, located not far from here near the city of Sayanogorsk.
HPP central control panel

In 1991, the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station purchased several modified trams from St. Petersburg, launching them along a simple route from the residential village of power engineers Cheryomushki to the hydroelectric power station along the remains of the former railway track. The village of Cheryomushki is the smallest in Russia locality with a tram line, and the line itself is the only tram line in Russia with free travel...
The modern tram line was originally a temporary Abakan railway - the SSH HPP under construction, through which building materials and special equipment were delivered, and one DR1 passenger train ran to deliver builders. After the launch of the hydroelectric power plant, the line at the Sayanogorsk-Cheryomushki section (about 30 km) was dismantled and abandoned. They left only a single-track section from Cheryomushki to SSHGES (about 3 km), which was electrified and a tram was launched along it.

The line does not have turning circles, sidings or turnaround dead ends, so peak morning and evening runs are carried out by several cars following one after another. Trams reach the fence of the territory of the SSHHPP, where passengers are released right next to the checkpoint.

The only route passes the line in 15 minutes and turns back and forth in 1 hour. The clock schedule of movement is strictly maintained. The first flight departs from the depot to the residential town at 6:35 am, the last departs to the depot at 20:00. The tram line operates every day except Sunday.

As I said, the Cheryomushkinsky tram is the only tram system in Russia where the passage of passengers is free.

In total, the Cheryomushkinskaya tram system has six double-sided, two-cabin cars 71-88G, built in St. Petersburg on the basis of the Soviet four-axle tram car LM-68M specifically for Cheryomushki.

Trams reach only the hydroelectric power station, but the electrified line continues further, along the territory of the hydroelectric power station, to the gates of the building leading to the electrical workshop at the engine room of the station, where, as necessary, major repairs of trams are carried out

Tram at the terminal near the checkpoint. In the evening, the only time the hitch runs. After a while, another car will come up, all three will be filled with station employees and rolled to Cheryomushki

Very close to the Mainskaya hydroelectric power station, which is the counter-regulator of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, there are the remains of one unique structure, or rather the ruins of the stone dam of the Uiskaya irrigation system. Until the middle of the last century, without electricity and any pumps, water was supplied from here for more than 20 kilometers. Only two such irrigation systems were built. One in Argentina, the other here - in Khakassia...
The south of the Koibal steppe has a reputation for being a very dry place with frequent droughts. The issue of irrigating the fields has always been an acute issue here. In the early twenties of the last century, work began on the construction of an irrigation system. The initiator and leader of this project was hydraulic engineer Nikolai Mikhailov. In this project, he managed to solve the problem of supplying water to the collective farm fields without any energy.

Mikhailov came up with an idea - the water should go to the fields by itself. The principle is communicating vessels. A stone dam was built on the taiga river Uy. From it, along the canal, water was brought closer to the Yenisei, and was transferred to the right bank through a two-hundred-meter pipe. From there, through a system of water conduits and a six-kilometer pipe, water was supplied to the collective farm fields.

The irrigation system worked properly until 1963. But then the need for it disappeared, because along with the start of construction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, a powerful pumping station was erected. She took care of watering the land.
Archival photo. Borrowed from Wikimapia

Now only stone ruins hidden in the forest remind of the system

How to get here: moving along the road towards Cheryomushki, after the village of Maina there will be a turn onto the dirt road towards Zharka.
On the dirt road 2-3 kilometers to the bridge over the river.
Stop in front of the bridge and go slightly to the right.
Coordinates: 52°58"8"N 91°26"59"E

Being at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, I took the opportunity to visit the Shushenskoye open-air museum, which was a stone's throw by car...
The full name of this museum is the Regional State state-financed organization culture Historical and ethnographic museum-reserve "Shushenskoye" (or earlier "Siberian exile of V.I. Lenin"). The Shushensky open-air museum is a historically established central part of the Siberian village of the Russian Empire in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. On the territory of 7 hectares there are numerous monuments of rural wooden architecture: peasant estates, the building of the volost government with a prison, a village shop, a tavern, a smithy. In peasant houses, on estates, the conditions of life and life of Siberians at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries are recreated. The main occupations of the peasants are shown - agriculture and animal husbandry, widespread subsidiary trades and crafts - hunting, fishing, beekeeping, cooperage, weaving, wickerwork, rolling felt, felt boots, etc. In the houses where V.I. Lenin, the memorial situation is preserved. In addition to traditional services, the museum offers visitors theatrical tours showing ancient crafts, Russian cuisine, including tasting traditional drinks in a 19th-century pub. Programs with the participation of the folklore ensemble, puppet and ethnographic theaters of the museum are very popular. There are workshops at the museum - pottery, wood carving, sewing workshops for tailoring theatrical and folk costumes. In souvenir shops you can buy products of museum masters, as well as craftsmen and professional artists of South Siberia.
Museum "Shushenskoye" is located, as you might guess, in the village of Shushenskoye (Krasnoyarsk Territory). Open from 9 am to 5 pm seven days a week.

A tour of the museum begins with the estate of a wealthy peasant Zyryanov, where V.I. Lenin the first year of his Siberian exile. Why Ilyich could not lodge in the house of a poor peasant, history is silent.

The courtyard of the estate with outbuildings.

A little over a year later, grief fell upon the Leader - his adored Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya came to him in exile. Yes, not alone - with her mother. In order not to embarrass the public with an innovative approach to living together, Ilyich and N.K. officially get married in a local church. After that, Lenin rents his own house - more, but more comfortable (about him below). To wealthy peasants and the church, Vladimir Ilyich decides to take revenge a little later, although it’s a no brainer that the mother-in-law is to blame in general.

Around all the houses there are planted vegetable gardens. Museum staff grow all sorts of vegetables, fruits, berries for themselves (there is nothing shameful in this, I think). Passing by one of these gardens, the guide enthusiastically listed the agricultural crops grown in the old days by Siberian residents: "... flax, potatoes, hemp ...". Hearing familiar word, the entire excursion group burned down, which immediately stretched their necks over the fence in search of the cherished agricultural crop.

Old Russian women's torture apparatus. As soon as the little girl began to walk, the stern Siberian parents immediately made her cook her dowry.

The most interesting interior has a trading shop.

The old jail-jail is located inconveniently among other buildings. It is impossible to take a view of it from the outside, despite the fact that the structure is interesting.

The tour ends at Lenin's house, where he lived for the other 2 years of his exile.

The second home of the exiled Ulyanov-Lenin, his young wife Krupskaya and her mother was another estate of another wealthy peasant Petrov. The family took a bigger house. Now they rented not a room in the house, but the whole house. Without fail, they took a girl-housekeeper. V Soviet time it was called "they taught her to read". Specifically, in this photo - the courtyard of the estate and the bathhouse.

The front gate of the house and the gazebo. According to legend, Vladimir and Nadya personally built it in order to drink tea in it in the summer.

In her youth, Krupskaya was nothing at all in my opinion. Arched eyebrows, plump lips. One minus - I came with my mother ... And Vladimir looks like an IT specialist, a lover of Tolkien and the King and the Jester group.

The interior of Lenin's office. The gun, as I understand it, is not to fend off fellow villagers. Here is such a link - nature, mountains, hunting, mushrooms, berries, tea in the gazebo :)

Here is such a museum. I highly recommend and recommend him. Tours are interesting to see and listen to.
Its coordinates: 53°19"39"N 91°55"41"E

The region around the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is a popular tourist destination not only because of the HPP itself. Opposite Cheryomushki, on the right bank of the Yenisei, rises the five-domed mountain Borus. In the summer, hundreds of ticks of tourists flock here to admire the boundless panorama of the Western Sayan...
To Borus, in a straight line, some miserable 10 km, but this is an uphill path along a path that is by no means straight. And the remaining half a day before the plane to Moscow can only count on the fact that someday I will come here again ...

To climb Borus, you need to cross the Yenisei on the bridge in Cheryomushki. After 4 kilometers, the road ends at the forester's lodge. In the gatehouse it is necessary to mark further along the numerous paths up ...

But even from below the river, the view of the ridge is mesmerizing.

Wandering along the stone placer on the banks of the Yenisei, I notice that birds are rushing under my feet, persistently diverting my attention

Common behavior for birds leading the "enemy" away from the nest, but I couldn't see the nest itself...

And it turned out that the nest and no. There is a chick sitting half a meter from me on a stone. I almost stepped on a brat :)

And there is someone to be afraid of small birds. Healthy golden eagles are circling in the sky. The first time I saw live how birds of prey catch fish ...

Tormented by the realization that Borus is not going to shine for me on this trip, I glanced at the slope of the mountain near which the village is located. There was a path along the gorge. The navigator indicated that the pass would be 1000 m above sea level. In a straight line 5 km, which means taking into account the fact that the trail winds 7-8 kilometers. Great, go ahead! :)

The path, quite passable even for underdrive, goes along the stream along the gorge for a long time ...

...gradually becoming a track only for prepared off-road vehicles

About half way to the pass. The road is already strictly stone, a strong slope, huge boulders. Every 4x4 fan's dream

Increasingly, you have to make stops for a couple of seconds - catch your breath, turn around, go nuts from beauty

The weather changed like a kaleidoscope. For 2.5 hours of walking upstairs it was cloudy, cloudy, sunny, it rained a few times, once it rained (which, however, I was glad - it was hot)

Just the texture of a stone

rainbow after rain

Finally, wet to the shorts with sweat, with your tongue on your side, you climb the pass. The view is so beautiful that at first you stand and look stupidly into the immense distance. But you need to climb another 30 meters up - on a rock on which someone set up a homemade flag. This is the highest point here.

And here is the frame of the car that arrived here - was the first thought. In fact, it turned out to be part of the construction of power lines

Traditional inscriptions "Here was..."

Upstairs. The height above sea level according to my GPS is 1238 meters. Given the height at which the hotel is located from which I started the route - the difference is about 830 meters. Vertex coordinates - N52°53.142" E91°22.148"

Someone's hacienda

Cheryomushki village

Coastal spillway under construction

Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP

HPP reservoir

I couldn't help but take a picture of myself. And then you never know anyone will not believe that I was here :)

As it turned out later, the name of this place is Cheryomukhovy Pass. The peak itself is unnamed. Just a height of 1238. An excellent, beautiful, energetically strong place, which is worth recommending to anyone who, for some reason, got to the SSHHPP, but does not have time for something more. Just like it happened to me...