Lower Svir Hydroelectric Station (russian: Нижнесвирская ГЭС) is a

hydroelectric station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

on the

Svir River The Svir (, Veps: , Karelian/ Finnish: ) is a river in Podporozhsky, Lodeynopolsky, and Volkhovsky districts in the north-east of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It flows westwards from Lake Onega to Lake Ladoga, thus connecting the two larges ...

located in the

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

of Svirstroy,

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, a ...

, in northwestern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It was open on December 19, 1933 and has the total power of 99 MW. It is operated by the

TGC-1 TGC-1 (also referred as TGK-1; full name: Territorial generating company number 1; , ''Territorial’naya generiruyushchaya kompaniya No 1''; traded as ) is a regional power company operating in North-West Russia. The company has its headquarters ...

power company. Svir is a part of the

Volga–Baltic Waterway The Volga–Baltic Waterway (Volgobalt, Волгобалт), formerly known as the Mariinsk Canal System (Russian: Мариинская водная система), is a series of canals and rivers in Russia which link the Volga with the Balti ...

, connecting the basins of the Volga and the Neva Rivers, with heavy cargo and cruise traffic. To accommodate the waterway, a lock was built to bypass the dam of the power station. The construction started in 1927 and was coordinated by

Genrikh Graftio Genrikh Osipovich Graftio (russian: Генрих Осипович Графтио, 26 December 1869 in Dünaburg – 30 April 1949 in Leningrad) was a Russian/Soviet engineer credited as a pioneer of the hydroelectric station construction, as o ...

, who had been responsible for the construction of the

Volkhov Hydroelectric Station Volkhov hydroelectric plant (russian: Волховская ГЭС имени В. И. Ленина, Volkhovskaya GZS imeni V. I. Lenina), named after V.I. Lenin, is a hydroelectric station on the Volkhov River located in the town of Volkhov, Lenin ...

. The construction was complicated by the fact that the ground in the area is soft, and the dam was built with certain angle to the riverbed, so that the water pressure pushed it to the ground. The construction was completed in 1933. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Svir separated Soviet (south) and Finnish (north) troops, and the dam was destroyed. It was restored after the war. The name of the station was originally the Svir Hydroelectric Station. Since 1955, the Lower Svir Hydroelectric Station and the

Upper Svir Hydroelectric Station Upper Svir Hydroelectric Station (russian: Верхнесвирская ГЭС) is a hydroelectric station on the Svir River located in the town of Podporozhye, Leningrad Oblast, in northwestern Russia. It was open on February 13, 1952 and has ...

, located in Podporozhye, perform coordination and, in particular, jointly regulate the water level in the Svir. The station was named after Genrikh Graftio.

References

External links

{{stack, {{Portal, Russia, Water, Renewable energy Energy infrastructure completed in 1933 TGC-1 Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union Hydroelectric power stations in Russia Buildings and structures in Leningrad Oblast Dams completed in 1933 Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Leningrad Oblast