Chirkey HPP (Dagestan)

Dagestan's pride and pride - Chirkey HPP - is considered to be a pearl in the cascade of hydroelectric power stations on the Sulak River. Located in the homonymous canyon, whose rocky circus and depth are not inferior to the world famous Grand Canyon in America, this station is not only an energy infrastructure object, but also an object of visiting tourists. The very first in the Sulak cascade of HES Dagestan, this station is a unique object of symbiosis of human engineering thought and natural beautiful landscapes.

Union of Technologies and Nature

The narrow expanding Sulak gorge, with a width of 30 meters above the river, was curbed by the arched dam of the Chirkey HPP. The length of the dam of the station is 400 meters, and the height is 232.5 meters. Pride of Dagestan, Chirkey HPP, occupies the 11th position in the rating of the 25 most beautiful and high dams in the world. The dam's pressure facilities form a reservoir with a water volume of 3 cubic kilometers and a water surface area of 42.5 square kilometers. The composition of the bottom of the bottom of the reservoir gives its waters an unimaginably beautiful azure-turquoise color, which amazes all tourists.

Pride of Engineers

The Moscow branch of the Glavgidrostroy of the USSR was engaged in the development of the project and the research of the potential of the Sulak River. In 1933, he proposed the first project of a concrete arch-gravity dam. However, it was not until 1962, when the Lengidroproekt institute began to work on it, adding the unique two-stage suction tubes and the arrangement of the units in two rows, the project acquired the level of an innovative model. At the same time, the length of the tunnel of the dam was almost doubled and amounted to 730 meters. Today, the station, which is located in a seismically unstable region, is equipped with modern sensors recording activity within the earth's crust. And the International Commission for Control in the Sphere of Nuclear Tests and Strategic Arms (headquarters in Austria) in 2013 gave the highest assessment to the station project as a seismic-safe one.

The highest in Russia

As already mentioned, the arched dam of the Chirkey HPP in the TOP-25 highest in the world stands at the eleventh place. And in Russia it is the highest. Arched dam station is equipped with 4 radial axle units, which are designed to pressure the water mass of 170 meters.

Energy value

Chirkey HPP, whose photo amazes by its scale and beauty, is one of the stations of the Dagestan branch of JSC RusHydro. The station is the most powerful in the North Caucasus, its installed capacity is 10,000 MW, and over the period of its operation it has generated over 88 billion kilowatts of electricity. The highest in the cascade of small hydro power stations in Dagestan, it is the regulator of the loads of the entire power system of the south of Russia in the peak stage. The Chirkey station is a kind of "first aid" in emergency situations and possible failure of the heat stations. It is capable of compensating for losses in the energy system of the entire country.

Water regulation function

In the downstream, the Chirkey HPP is not limited in water discharge regimes. By regulating the flow of water in the Sulak River, it affects the performance of the lower-lying stations and performs a water-supply function for large areas near the station. The reservoir formed by the dam is a valuable source of fresh water both for the needs of the population and for industrial consumption. The uniqueness of the dam is recognized not only by the world's power engineers, but also by environmentalists.

Building the whole world

Over 17 years (1963-1980), with the involvement of the working potential from all corners of the USSR, more than 1.5 million cubic meters of concrete were laid in the body of the dam of the Chirkey HPP. Overlapping of the river was conducted with the use of an innovative explosion method along the contour with a smooth splitting of the rock. The weight of the charge in general was 37 tons of explosive. Seismological instability and an earthquake in 1970, when construction stopped for a period of up to six months, also brought a lot of difficulties. But in 1981 the station gave the first electricity at full capacity.

Gidrostroevsky dynasties

The settlement-satellite of Dubki station was created in 1960 for builders from all the republics of the former Soviet Union and is designed for a population of about 10 thousand people. Its infrastructure has been preserved and today - three preschool institutions, one school, two cinemas and a palace of culture, a hospital complex and an indoor pool. By the end of the construction work at the hydroelectric station, a branch of a factory for the manufacture of electronic goods and a factory for tailoring were put into operation. In the settlements there live dynasties of the builders of the station - parents built, children built up, and grandchildren work at the hydroelectric power station. The modern village of oaks is the administrative unit of the Kazbek district. The administration supports the development of multinational cultural societies, develops sports and implements methods of local self-government. An example is a successful fish farm, which in itself has already become a landmark of the area.

Trout, sturgeon and other fish species

No excursion to the Chirkey HPP is complete without visiting a trout farm, organized as an auxiliary farm . An innovative decision of local self-government in organizing a trout farm not only gave jobs to local residents, but also fulfills an ecological function. The herbivorous trout prevents the drainage of water drainage structures. The farm produces podrashchennyh fry in the reservoir and breeds in special pools. Industrial fish farming is difficult and time consuming, but in this case it is an example of rational and effective use of available resources. Gold trout - capricious and whimsical fish, for which all conditions are created here. And this is the flow of water, and the optimal temperature regime, and special feeds that are purchased in Moscow itself. In five reservoirs of the farm, other valuable species of commercial fish are also bred (Siberian sturgeon, hybrids of bester and rainbow trout). This first experience of fish farming in the north of Dagestan proved to be successful and promising. In the plans of Dubkin residents, the expansion of production and the increase of the tourist attractiveness of the region.

Development of tourism

Like any energy facility, the Chirkey HPP is a regime facility of increased danger and enhanced protection. Visiting him is possible only as part of an organized group. But even if you are a single tourist on the "country of mountains", it is worth to go to this station and enjoy the beauty of the rocky circus of the Sulak gorge and the incredible steepness of the mountain streamer. This majestic structure in the midst of many-toned rocks will surely impress with the power of human thought and deed and will make us think about the role of mankind in the life of the planet and the influence of our activity on its wealth.