Kureyskaya HPP is located in the Turukhansky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, near the village of Svetlogorsk. The units of the station rotate the waters of the Kureyka River, the right tributary of the Yenisei. The power plant is part of the Kureisky cascade, and being the second after the Ust-Khantai polar hydroelectric station in the region, it supplies energy to the Norilsk Metallurgical Plant and part of the Dudinsky and Igarsky districts.
Construction history
Kureyskaya hydroelectric station turned out to be one of the most recent energy facilities laid down during the USSR. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, construction was suspended due to lack of funding. Work resumed only with the beginning of the 1990s. The final acceptance by the State Commission and commissioning of the Kureyskaya HPP took place only on December 11, 2002. The launch of the power plant eliminated the shortage of electricity and gave impetus to the development of industry in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
The first team of builders of 19 people landed on the banks of the Kureika River on June 4, 1975. Since then, this date has been officially called the day of the start of construction of the Kureyskaya hydroelectric power station. The first powerful explosion, which took out 15,000 cubic meters of rock on the way to the construction tunnel, sounded in April 1980, and in July 1982, the construction tunnel broke down at the main stages of construction. Concrete laying in the main structures of the Kureyskaya hydroelectric power station began in August 1983, the Kureika course was blocked in July 1985. The construction of the dam lasted from 1984 to 1990, but despite this, the station’s first hydraulic unit was launched in December 1987.
Construction accident
Presumably, the lack of funds caused insufficient quality of work, and on July 26, 1992, a channel section broke through on the dam, which entailed the removal of a large amount of soil, the appearance of longitudinal cracks on the lower slope and the formation of a funnel, and subsidence of the upper slope.
By the beginning of the flood of the next year, the dam was undergoing strengthening measures, including injections of cement-clay mortars, adding soil and building a drainage prism. These events required incredible efforts, but were temporary and supportive in nature. The dam needed serious and expensive repairs. Damage caused by the breakthrough allowed the last, 5th hydraulic unit to be launched only in 1994. Repair work and elimination of deficiencies continued for another 8 years.
Design Features of Kureyskaya HPP
Kureyskaya hydroelectric station was built according to a unique project. The waterworks of the station include the central channel, right-bank and left-bank sections of the dam. The total length of all dams along the ridge is approximately 4,500 meters, and the maximum height of the channel dam is 79 meters. A surface spillway with a length of 168 and a width of 76 meters, designed to drain excess flood waters past the turbine wheels, is located directly in the rocky notch of the left bank.
The dam forms a bowl of the reservoir with a normal retaining level of 95 meters, a volume of 9.96 cubic meters. kilometers and a mirror area of 558 square meters. kilometers. Water through 5 deep holes flows into the water intake device and enters the pressure conduits, each of which is 7 meters in diameter and 130 meters long. Concrete water conduits direct the flow from the reservoir to the turbine blades. Then, through the suction pipes, the water flows into a discharge channel having a width of 101 and a length of 170 meters.
The building of the power plant is also unusual. It is located in a recess, and its zero mark is at a depth of more than 80 meters. The station’s turbines are located at a 32-meter mark, and generators are located at a 35-meter mark. The power plant is equipped with 5 radial-axis turbines and synchronous generators with a capacity of 120 mW. The total design power generation by hydropower units of the Kureyskaya HPP is 600 mW.
When constructing the station dam for the first time in the country, the technique of using rolled low-cement hard concrete was used. Here methods of preparation and laying of clay soils at minus temperature values and methods of preparing the foundation of soil dams on lake-glacial deposits without draining the pit found further development.
Svetlogorsk and its inhabitants
The village of Svetlogorsk was laid down simultaneously with the start of construction of the Kureyskaya hydroelectric power station. Today, there are about 1,200 residents here - these are energy and their families. The peak of the population occurred during construction - almost 8500 people lived and worked here.
Svetlogorsk and Kureyskaya hydroelectric station are reliably connected with the mainland. The airport of the village has a hard surface and is able to take planes all year round. The auxiliary farm of the power plant provides residents with fresh food; in the village there is a hospital equipped with modern requirements and a club with a hall for 530 seats. But despite the relatively comfortable life, people leave here, because they do not see further prospects.
Nevertheless, the station continues to generate the necessary energy, according to design calculations, and even a cursory glance at the photo of the Kureyskaya HPP evokes respect for the talent of engineers and the dedication of the builders.