Two largest runners in the history of the Russian hydro power industry were delivered to the En+ group’s Krasnoyarsk hydro power plant, from St. Petersburg.
The impellers were produced at Leningrad Metallichesky Zavod (part of the company ’Power Machines’) and sent for delivery at the end of August. Each impeller weighs 244 tonnes and has a diameter of 8.5 metres. The vessel containing the hydroelectric equipment passed through the White Sea-Baltic Canal, and the White, Barents and Kara seas, and arrived at the quay in front of Krasnoyarsk HPP via the River Yenisei. The journey totalled over 6,000 kilometres.
The first modernised hydraulic unit with a new impeller is planned to be launched in April 2018, while the second is set to begin production in January 2019.
The hydroturbines with new impellers, whose production qualities have been confirmed during simulation tests, are more effective than the turbines currently installed at Krasnoyarsk HPP, due to their inbuilt innovative rotary-vane system, which enables the modernised turbines to ensure efficient and stable production.
The upgrade of the impellers at Krasnoyarsk HPP is part of En+ Group’s ’New Energy’ programme, a comprehensive initiative to modernise the Company’s hydro power facilities. Currently, new impellers and other modernised equipment are also being installed at Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk HPPs, while in September 2018, the Company plans to select a contractor to provide new turbines for the Irkutsk HPP.
As a result of En+ Group’s ’New Energy’ programme, it’s Siberian HPPs — Krasnoyarsk, Bratsk, and Ust-Ilimsk — will be able to increase clean energy production by 1.5TWh per year, using the same volumes of water. Thanks to this, the hydroelectric power plants will gradually be able to replace the energy produced by local coal-fired power stations, which will save up to 800,000 tonnes of coal per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with coal by 2 mn tonnes annually. This will have a positive effect on the environment in Siberia.
