Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam | Russia in Pictures

Sayano-Shushenskaya is the largest Russian hydroelectric plant. Its average power generation is high enough to take the 9th place among other hydroelectric power plants in the world. Built on the Yenisei River Sayano-Shushenskaya is located near Sayanogorsk city in Khakassia Region.

1. Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP was opened in 1978. Its total producing capacity is 6400 MW, and it is able to produce 25,500GWh during a year.

2. The dam experiences water pressure of nearly 30 million tons. 60% of the pressure is neutralized by its own weight, and the rest goes to the bank.

3. In May 1979 the turbine room was flooded with the spring water. As a result, the first turbine unit was completely disabled. In July 1979 it was successfully restarted.

4. The plant’s official name is OJSC P. S. Neporozhny Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, where HPP refers to hydro power plant and Neporozhny refers to Pyotr Neporozhny, the Minister of Energy & Electrification in the Soviet Union.

5. The power plant serves the reservoir with total capacity of 31.34 km3, including 15.34 km3 of useful capacity. Its area is 621 km2

6. Another spring flood in 1985 destroyed 80% of the concrete spillway bottom plate. 50-millimetre anchor bolts were torned apart and carved into the bedrock at the depth of 7 meters.

7. Constructors came up with idea of Sayano-Shushenskaya dam in 1960. In November 1961 geologists chose the location for the future project. Seven years layer, in 1968, the construction started.Ten years later, in 1978, it was finally opened.

8. Sayano-Shushenskaya dam is the largest in Russia and the 9th in the world.

9. Up to 2,000 GWh may be lost yearly after massive rainfalls because there is not enough of high-voltage transmission capacity. As a result, some water gets into turbines. In order to prevent those situations building of a new aluminum plant started in December of 2006.

10. Sayano-Shushenskaya dam provides over ¼ of RusHydro generation capacity.

11. The station includes the 242 meter high dam, a power plant building and an additional spillway located under the construction. The curved gravity dam's crest length is 1,066 meters, its width is 25 meters, base width is 105,7 meters and maximum head is 220 meters.

12. Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is constructed to be able to resist earthquakes up to 8 on the Richter magnitude scale. It is listed in the Guiness Book as the strongest dam.

13. The power station is the largest station contributing to consumption in Russia’s Unified Energy Systems. Over 70% of electrical power generated by the station is consumed by four smelters of Rusal in Siberia.

14. There was an accident in August of 2009, resulting in closing of the plant. Several old turbines were temporarily restarted, and others were supposed to be fully replaced with updated equipment. As of autumn 2012, 5 turbines were operating, and 3 of them were fully replaced. Full replacement was completely accomplished in 2014.

15. The reliability of the HPP is often questioned in the media. The experts in hydraulic engineering constantly check station’s security structures. Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP has a valid declaration of safety.