Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP: where is, reviews, vacancies

"Well, we will be at Kolyma - you are welcome!" How long this phrase had a sarcastic meaning, invariably evoking an unequivocal response: "No, it's better you to us." In the past few years, coming to the Magadan region is becoming fashionable, interesting and exciting. Unexpectedly, the stunning beauty of the harsh nature, the identity of a small number of people, and many Russians began to open up a huge homeland. But the most important thing is that the region has started a rapid development not only at the expense of minerals, but also because of the resources invested and the forces in the improvement. Completion of the construction of the cascade of HPPs on the Kolyma River will allow the region to attract investments and to open up the entire potential of the region.

Where is

Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP is a large-scale northern construction. Geographically located on the Kolyma River in the Magadan Region. It is part of the Kolyma cascade of hydroelectric power stations. The object under construction is located 217 km below the current Kolyma HPP and is the lower stage of the cascade of stations. The nearest housing is the village of Ust-Srednekan, which has been abandoned for several years, it is difficult to call it a settlement. For employees and workers, several hostels have been built in the immediate vicinity of the HPP. The construction is carried out by JSC RusHydro.

Kolyma HPP produces 95% of the entire region's electricity, its capacity is 900 MW. This is sufficient to ensure almost all current needs, but not for development. Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP is designed to increase the amount of generated electricity, which will allow the development of local fossils, erect energy-intensive and in-demand production facilities. Its design capacity is 570 MW, the average annual power generation is 2.55 billion kWh.

History

The project of the station was developed by 1978, and construction began in 1990. The work was stopped in the late 90s due to lack of funding. In the following period, money for construction was allocated only from the federal budget, for which an object of this scale was unaffordable. The resumption of work occurred in 2005 after assessing the financial costs of its construction and the economic effect after the launch. The first tranche of financing was received in 2006, which revived the work on the site.

In 2008, the future power plant became the property of RusHydro, which was the result of reforms in the company. For the period of construction, HPP became a legal entity of JSC Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP. The work accelerated significantly, and by 2011 the readiness of the complex was 86%. In September of the same year, the Kolyma River was closed, which completed the first stage of construction work. At the moment, the equipment is being installed, the dam and other structures are being built.

Natural conditions

The Magadan region is a territory with a harsh climate, where negative temperatures are observed at the end of September. Construction work requires a special technology, because they are conducted in permafrost conditions: the ground in some places freezes up to 300 meters in depth. Temperature on average annual observations is -12 ° C, the record for the January cold is -62 ° C, the average temperature of the middle of winter is -38 ° C. The region is also in the zone of high seismic activity.

The capital of the region and the main consumer of energy in the near future will be Magadan. Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP (the distance to the mouth of the Kolyma River is 1,677 km) will become the main energy supplier. Around the station, while uninhabited places, from the federal highway "Kolyma" to the object, you need to drive 40 km.

Between two stations of the cascade the river is filled with several tributaries, the total water volume is 4.5 km³. In the warm months of the year there are two major floods: in the spring and in the summer-autumn periods. The maximum water flow in the flood period is 17,900 m³ per second (recorded in 1939). In winter, the water consumption drops significantly due to climatic conditions and can not be more than 5 m³ per second. The estimated cost of the station is 33 300 m³ per second.

Station design

Ust-Kolymskaya HPP has a widespread design solution - it is a dammed medium-pressure station. The structure of the facility includes:

• Earth dam (length - 2100 meters, height at the highest point - 66 meters).
• Concrete dam (length - 325 meters, height - 74 meters).
• Reservoir (total area - 265 m ² , volume - 5.4 km ³ , useful volume - 2.57 km ³ ).
• Flooding of agricultural lands will be 40 hectares, there are no settlements in the flood zone.
• The head of the hydroelectric power station is about 2.5 km.

Dam

Two dams of the station form a single water front. The earth dam is poured from a soil mixture consisting of sand and gravel. The priority is a height of 33.5 meters, it creates a minimum working head of water for the temporary operation of two already supplied hydroelectric units.

The second dam of the Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP (325 meters) consists of three parts:

• Waste water discharge;
• Stationary;
• deaf.

Since the hydroelectric power station is built in permafrost conditions, in the places where the ground is freezing, the anti-filtration screen is laid only after work on the electro-thawing of the rock. The depth of the bookmark is 25 meters, in depths of tectonic destruction the depth can reach 100 meters.

The spillway dam provides a water flow of about 17,200 m³ per second, the discharge is carried out in a water well (length - 168.5 meters, width - 147 meters). The station dam consists of a water intake with four sections. The length of this dam is 96 meters, width - 57 meters, height is 70 meters. The front with the shore is connected by a concrete dam, the length of which is 105 meters.

Course of work

In 2011, the riverbed was blocked, for which it was laid 2000 concrete cubes, each weighing eight tons. In 2013, the first two temporary hydroelectric units were put into operation, the construction of a pressure front, an earth dam was continued, work was underway to prepare the launch of the third hydroelectric unit.

As of early September, 2016, at Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP, the installation of the embedded parts for the third hydroelectric unit was completed, the turbine itself is already on the way and follows the train. The turbine in disassembled form fit in 50 freight cars. Some of its parts have already arrived in Magadan.

The manufacturer of hydraulic engineering is the Russian company - the concern Power Machines. The power of the water turbine is 142.5 MW. The first stationary hydraulic unit will soon be mounted by the forces and skills of the technician's supplier. Now the station has two temporary hydroelectric units. At the moment there is concreting the site, which will require about 3 thousand cubic meters of the mixture.

The work is carried out strictly according to plan, builders try to make a maximum, while the plus temperature in the places where the Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP is located holds. Photos of buildings and the surrounding landscape contrast sharply with each other, demonstrate the power of nature and human efforts to curb it. The launch of the station is scheduled for 2018.

Economic effect

Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP after launch will help solve a number of problems:

• To increase the winter capacity of Kolyma HPP by 102 MW.
• To ensure the development of Natalka Mining (gold mining) and create facilities for the development of planned mining enterprises.
• To regulate navigation and incoming water during the flood period.
• Ensure the energy security of the entire Magadan region, especially in the winter.
• Reduce consumption of imported fuel due to the refusal to build thermal stations. This will additionally reduce the burden on the environment.
• Reduce the cost of electricity, which will reduce tariffs by 38-50%.
• Create jobs, improve the social security of citizens and reduce the migration of the population, raise the quality of life.

Reviews

Large-scale construction projects implemented in recent years in different regions of Russia have convinced even skeptics of the country's ability to solve its problems and increase its production potential. Part of the promising projects is Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP. Comments from the correspondents who visited the site and ordinary people are only enthusiastic. Almost all expressed the hope that the Magadan region and the entire Kolyma region will begin to acquire a different story, not so gloomy, based on camp stories.

Reviews of the employer PJSC Kolymaenergo (a subsidiary of PJSC RusHydro) are few. Perhaps, because the situation in the Kolyma region with the Internet is deplorable. Those who have bothered to write a review, talk about both negative and positive aspects of work at the enterprise.

Of the negative main claim is not too high wages, which significantly reduces the desire to apply for vacancies, where it is necessary to work in the conditions of the Far North. Some employees point to a free change in the terms of the contract on the part of the administration of the enterprise, an unfair system of penalties, manipulation of the calculation of vacation pay and compensation. To the pluses include an excellent team of professionals, developed at the construction site. It is difficult to judge from scrappy information about the qualities of the employer, but work under extreme conditions is not easy, and therefore each employee wants normal working and rest conditions.

Careers

PJSC "Kolymaenergo" recruits personnel to the Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP. Vacancies are open to specialists with higher engineering education, secondary special, and working personnel. Wanted engineers-hydrotro technology, IT professionals, shift supervisors, laboratory chemists, divers, crane operators and so on. The main requirement is understanding of the specifics of the work of power engineers, profile education and preferably work experience at other HPPs. The company recruits not only the station under construction, but also the operating Kolyma HPP.