HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station (also referred to as The ''50 years of Great October'' Dam) is a concrete gravity
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
on the
Angara River The Angara ( Buryat and mn, Ангар, ''Angar'',  "Cleft"; russian: Ангара́, ''Angará'') is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is ...
and adjacent hydroelectric
power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...
. It is the second level of the Angara River hydroelectric station cascade in
Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and N ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. From its commissioning in 1966, the station was the world’s single biggest power producer until
Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Station The Krasnoyarsk Dam is a high concrete gravity dam located on the Yenisey River about upstream from Krasnoyarsk in Divnogorsk, Russia. It was constructed from 1956 to 1972, and it supplies about 6,000 MW of electricity, mostly used to supply th ...
reached 5,000 MW (at 10 turbines) in 1971. Annually the station produces 22.6 TWh. Currently, the Bratsk Power Station operates 18 hydro-turbines, each with capacity of 250 MW, produced by the Leningrad Metal Works ("LMZ", russian: ЛМЗ, russian: Ленинградский Металлический завод) in the 1960s.


Design and specifications


Dam

Components: *
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...
wall 924 m long and 124.5 m high at its maximum (stationary part 515 m long, waterdrop part 242 m long, dumb part 167 m). * by-wall house 516 m long * riverbank concrete walls all 506 m long * right bank ground wall 2,987 m long, left - 723 m long. On the top of the dam are the track of the Taishet-
Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
line and a vehicle road. There are no navigational channels, because the Angara has no through ship routes. Nevertheless, the construction project includes the possibility to build a ship elevator. Bratsk dam is often referred to as the second largest in the world.


Power plant

The Turbine Hall contains 18 Francis hydroturbine units, ca. 250 MW each, with 106 m of operating head. A 5,140 m-long
penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills. H ...
forms the
Bratsk Reservoir Bratsk Reservoir (russian: Бра́тское водохрани́лище, ''Bratskoye Reservoir'') is a reservoir on the Angara River, located in the Lena-Angara Plateau of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. It is named after the city of Bratsk, the larges ...
. With a 4,500 MW capacity, and 22.6 TWh of annual output, it is Russia's second largest single producer of hydroelectricity. Output is distributed into five 500 kV
power line An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy across large distances. It consists of one or more uninsulated electrical cables (commonly multiples of three for three-p ...
s and twenty 220 kV lines. The plant was designed by the Moscow-based ''
Hydroproject Hydroproject (russian: Институт «Гидропроект», Gidroproekt) is a Russian hydrotechnical design firm. Based in Moscow, it has a number of branches around the country. Its main activities are design of dams, hydroelectric stat ...
'' (russian: «Гидропроект») institute, and is operated by the joint-stock company '' Irkutskenergo'' (russian: «Иркутскэнерго»), although all the buildings themselves belong to Russia's federal government. A reconstruction project includes increasing the output towards 5,000 MW. At present, Irkutskenergo together with JSC ''Silovii Mashini'' (russian: «Силовые машины») is modernizing the aging turbines.


Economics

* The plant powers hundreds of factories. * It became a part of the ''Bratsk territorial-production complex'' (russian: Братский территориально-производственный комплекс) * About 75% of the output is consumed by the Bratsk Aluminium Plant.


History

The plan to build the hydroelectric plant was approved in September 1954 and later that year the first workers and machines arrived at Bratsk. On December 21, 1954 preparation works were initiated by the Nizhneangargasstroy department (russian: Нижнеангаргэсстрой), later renamed to Bratskgasstroy (russian: Братскгэсстрой). Concurrently, the city of Bratsk was founded. On December 12, 1955 Bratsk was officially converted from a workers settlement into a city by the
decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...
of the Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR The Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR (russian: Верховный Совет РСФСР, ''Verkhovny Sovet RSFSR''), later Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation (russian: Верховный Совет Российской Федерации, ...
. Construction was declared as the Komsomol's high-tempo priority goal and was in the center of public attention. Eventually, a lot of the workers were awarded state prizes and the plant became a symbol of the industrial development of
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
. From July 1955 to October 1957 the 220 kV power line to Irkutsk was constructed. On November 6, 1957 the Bratsk substation received the first current from the newly constructed plant and later that year this current was transmitted to Irkutsk for the first time via the newly created power line. In 1961 the second 500 kV power line was added. On July 18, 1961 the Bratsk Reservoir started filling (level raised up to 100 m so that it became the largest artificial lake of that time). First stationary 225 MW generator (No. 18) became operational on November 28, 1961 at 10:15 local time. After 7 days on December 5 the second unit No. 17 started to operate and on December 12, 1963, units No. 16 and No. 15 were included into the Unified Energy System of Siberia. On May 9, 1964, operators began to control the plant as the central control post was put into service. On September 30, 1964, the last cubic meter of concrete was poured into the dam wall. Construction of a railway track over the dam began on March 3, 1965 and it started to operate on June 16. A vehicular road opened on July 28. On December 14, 1966 the last unit, No. 1 was operational and on September 8, 1967, the State Commission accepted the inclusion of Bratsk into constant use.


See also

* Irkutsk Energy, an operator of Bratsk plant *
List of conventional hydroelectric power stations This article lists hydroelectric power stations that generate power using the conventional dammed method. This list includes power stations that are larger than in maximum net capacity, and are operational or under construction. Those power sta ...
*
List of power stations in Russia The following page lists the power stations in Russia. Renewable Geothermal Hydroelectric Pumped-storage hydroelectric Solar photovoltaic The following is a list of photovoltaic power stations in Russia:). In addition there ar ...


Literature

* Hugo Portisch: ''So sah ich Sibirien''. Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 1967. (German) 342+8 pages with 27 maps, + ca. 100 pages with 158 pictures (45 coloured). Picture page 13 after page 32, 4 pictures after page 64. Chapter "Das größte E-Werk der Welt" (= The biggest Power Plant of the World), pages 68–79.


References


External links


Irkutskenergo company profile


{{Angara River dams Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union Hydroelectric power stations in Russia Buildings and structures in Irkutsk Oblast Dams on the Angara River