OREANDA-NEWS. On August 07, 2007 44MW capacity Gelbakh HPP was put into service in December 2006; it was a significant milestone for JSC “Regional Power Generation Company of Dagestan” (JSC “DRGK”). It took two years to build this hydropower plant, which became a new stage of Sulak HPPs Cascade. It is hard to overestimate the importance of this power industry facility, reported the press-centre of JSC “DRGK”.
 
Chirurt HPP-1 (the first power plant of this Cascade) was commissioned in December of 1961 and every year during the spring-summer high water period the power plant workers were idly discharging considerable portion of the water flow through the bottom pipes of the headwork. I wonder, how many kW/h of electric power could have been generated out of the water that had been discharged for all these 35 years.
 
High water of this year was the first test for Gelbakh hydropower plant. In the beginning of the summer only one hydroelectric generator of the plant was running; but when in July the water raised, the second generator was also started. During this two months and six days of the high water period Gelbakh HPP generated 20 million kW/h of electric power.
 
Gelbakh HPP (HPP-3) is able to generate millions kW/h just out of high water flow and this is not the only advantage of having this facility: when both hydroelectric generators of HPP-3 are running, power engineers can do repair works at HPP-1 if necessary. We are not going to let waters of the Sulak River idly run into the Caspian sea.