The Uglich Hydroelectric Station or Uglich GES (russian: Угличская 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

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

Uglich Uglich ( rus, У́глич, p=ˈuɡlʲɪtɕ) is a historic town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River. Population: History The city was first documented in 1148 as ''Ugliche Pole'' (''Corner Field''). The town's name is though ...

Yaroslavl Oblast Yaroslavl Oblast (russian: Яросла́вская о́бласть, ''Yaroslavskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma ...

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 ...

, and is the first of the Volga-Kama Cascade of dams. It began operating on December 8, 1940, making it one of the oldest hydroelectric plants in Russia. The plant has a 120 MW capacity and is operated by

RusHydro RusHydro (previous name: Hydro-OGK, russian: РусГидро) is a Russian hydroelectricity company. As of early 2012 it had a capacity of 34.9 gigawatts. In late 2009, it was the world's second-largest hydroelectric power producer and is ...

. There is also a Russian hydropower museum located at the hydroelectric plant dedicated to the development of hydropower.

History

Plant construction began in 1935 and the first

excavator Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...

arrived in January 1936. The plant's design was approved on May 23, 1938 by the Economic Council of the USSR Council of People's Commissars, modeled after the Rybinsk hydroelectric station.

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

prisoners were used in the construction. Many villages and the old part of

Kalyazin Kalyazin (russian: Каля́зин) is a town and the administrative center of Kalyazinsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, northeast of Tver, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ...

were flooded by the

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

created by the dam. Some of the oldest buildings in the region, including the 15th-century Intercession Monastery in Uglich and the 16th-century Trinity Monastery in Kalyazin, were covered by the reservoir. The first

hydroelectric generator 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 and ...

went into operation on December 8, 1940, and the second began operating on March 20, 1941.

Upgrades

In 2007

Voith Hydro The Voith Group is a German manufacturer of machines for the pulp and paper industry, technical equipment for hydropower plants and drive and braking systems. The family-owned company, which operates worldwide and has its headquarters in Hei ...

acquired a contract to replace the second hydroelectric generator at the plant, after almost 70 years of operation. The generator's operation had fallen from an initial 55 MW to 35 MW after years of deterioration. The estimated cost of the replacement was 34 million euros. The new generator was finished in 2011 and RusHydro began modernizing the equipment of the plant's first generator in June 2011. RusHydro plans to complete the equipment replacement by 2020.

References

External links

{{Volga River Dams in Russia Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union Hydroelectric power stations in Russia Buildings and structures in Yaroslavl Oblast 1940 establishments in the Soviet Union Dams completed in 1940 Dams on the Volga River Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Yaroslavl Oblast