The Zagorsk pumped storage power plant was built on the Kunya river near the village of Bogorodskoye in the Sergiev Posad district of the Moscow region in 1987. Currently, work is underway to put into operation the second stage of the PSPP . This power plant has the status of the largest such object in Russia, being an important structural link in the power supply system of the Moscow region and central Russia.
First you need to find out on what principle pumped storage stations work. Their main advantage lies in leveling the daily heterogeneity of the electrical load schedule. Objects of this type operate in two modes. During peak morning and evening energy consumption, the station generates expensive electricity by rejecting water from the upper storage basin to the lower supply reservoir (generator mode). During the period of nighttime minimum energy consumption, it takes cheap electricity from the power grid and spends it on the reverse pumping of water into the upper basin (pumping mode). If we think as simply as possible, we can draw a not entirely correct conclusion that pumped storage stations are not energy efficient, since they consume more electricity than they consume. produce. Despite this, they play an important role in major energy systems, including that of Russia. Thus, the use of a pumped storage power plant is economically extremely profitable, as it contributes both to optimizing the daily load schedule and to improving the reliability and quality of the electricity supply.
Currently, there are two full-fledged pumped storage stations in the Russian Federation. We are talking about the already mentioned PSP Zagorskaya in the Moscow region and the PSP Kuban in Karachay-Cherkessia. A few other similar power plants are part of hydroelectric complexes, where various types of electrical installations operate in a single system. Ten other hydrostorage stations are currently in the design phase.
The structure of the first stage of the Zagorskaya PSP (capacity 1200 MW), the facilities of which were put into operation between 1987 and 2003, includes a station node, an upper storage pool, pressure pipelines, an intake reversible water, and a lower storage pool. The construction of this facility was experimental in nature, the location of the new station was determined taking into account many factors that had a positive impact on the construction and operation processes. The PSPP is located near the borders of three regions (Moscow, Vladimir and Yaroslavl regions) in the zone of influence of the powerful Mosenergo energy system. The developed infrastructure of the central part of Russia made it possible to reduce the cost of all the problems associated with the delivery of the necessary materials and equipment to the construction site. Given the difficult economic situation in the country in the 90s of the last century, the full commissioning of the facility was constantly postponed. To complete the construction of the station, Mosenergo had to obtain a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the amount of 50 million dollars. In addition, during work with a certain frequency, emergency situations have arisen. So, in 1979, a large old landslide intensified at the construction site, which for a long time could not be stabilized, and in 1986 the left retaining wall of the water intake collapsed.
In 2006, in order to further reduce the shortage of regulating maneuvering capacity, for which pump-storage stations are being created, it was decided to build the second stage of the Zagorskaya PSP (Zagorskaya PSP – 2) . A serious signal for such a decision was a major accident in the capital’s energy system in 2005, when several districts of Moscow were completely deprived of electricity for a few hours. To carry out the construction work of the new power plant, OJSC Zagorskaya GAES-2 (a 100% subsidiary of OJSC RusHydro) was created. Currently, the state corporation RusHydro owns both floors of the Zagorsk pumped storage station. This company owns most of the hydroelectric facilities in our country, and the Russian Federation is the majority shareholder (more than 60%).
On July 10, 2007, the solemn laying of the foundation stone for the future station took place. Already in 2011, the readiness of the Zagorskaya PSP-2, the capacity of which was supposed to be 840 MW, reached 50%. It was assumed that in 2013 the first stage of construction would be completed. However, a serious accident brought its fittings during the works. Due to soil erosion, the station building collapsed, the engine room and the station site were flooded. A little later, the joint commission of RusHydro and Rostekhnadzor came to the conclusion that the designer of the installation, which was the Hydroproject Institute, was indirectly responsible for what happened. It should also be clarified that during the six years of work, RusHydro managed to invest about 70 billion rubles in the implementation of this project. A certain part of the spent funds was subsequently reimbursed, insurance payments for the accident amounting to 8.2 billion rubles.
In 2018, the board of directors of PJSC RusHydro approved the project for leveling the damaged building. The cost of the work was estimated at 3.15 billion rubles. It was assumed that by 2022 the consequences of the accident would be eliminated, but later a member of the company’s board of directors, Roman Berdnikov, said that a clear understanding of the future fate of the station would only be known. than in 2023. From the above, we can conclude that at present the prospects for the second stage seem rather hazy. As is often the case in Russia, the main problems lie in the funding and timing of the project.
Despite this, the HPSP-1 in Zagorsk, which is currently operating successfully, allows us to assess the strengths of this type of electrical installations. Thus, pumped storage stations are highly maneuverable compared to district power plants and nuclear power plants, which allows them to respond quickly to various disturbances in the power system. All of this suggests that these stations should primarily be viewed as a source of rapidly introduced active power reserve.
Author: Viktor Anufriev
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