OREANDA-NEWS. February 25, 2010. An official ceremony was held at the Neporozhny Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant in the Republic of Khakasia for the on-load grid connection of hydropower unit No. 6 with a capacity of 640 MW. The unit was launched into industrial operation by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin from the plant’s central control room. The launch ceremony was also attended by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, JSC RusHydro Management Board Chairman Yevgeny Dod, as well as representatives of regional authorities, some federal ministries, design and construction companies, R&D institutes and equipment manufacturers.

As part of the visit by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, a meeting was held to discuss the progress of restoration work at the hydropower plant. The meeting noted that the industrial operation of hydropower unit No. 6, which was launched into work, and hydropower unit No. 5, which is scheduled for launch in March, implied the introduction of a base capacity of 1,280 MW enabling the hydropower plant to minimize the risks of handling seasonal floods and ensure guaranteed water supplies to households, industrial and social facilities located in the hydropower plant’s tail bay.

Work was carried out in full at hydropower units Nos. 5 and 6 to repair the generator equipment, and also the turbines’ basic and auxiliary equipment. Generator circuit-breaker equipment has been replaced at hydropower unit No. 6 and a stationary system of vibration control has been installed. Work is continuing at hydropower unit No. 5 for equipment assembly.

In addition, the testing of penstock tunnels at hydropower units Nos. 5 and 6 has been carried out. Specialists from the Vedeneyev All-Russian Institute of Hydraulic Engineering inspected the condition of the spiral chamber, the suction tube and other structural elements. The condition of the penstocks’ internal metal cladding at hydropower units Nos. 5 and 6 was inspected. Following the results of this work, a scientific and technical report entitled: "Inspection of the Penstocks at Hydropower Units Nos. 5 and 6" was prepared with a conclusion on the penstock condition. The inspection results confirm the working capacity of all the reinforced concrete frames of hydropower units Nos. 5 and 6. All the penstocks of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP will be inspected under a special program in 2010-2014.

Foundation slabs, building and metalwork structures, the flow passage of hydropower unit No. 6, auxiliary and general-purpose plant’s equipment and the power output circuit have been restored for the start-up operations. In addition, completely reconditioned systems of guidance, control, protection and automation have been installed and adjusted. Equipment of the main outputs chamber and the zero terminals chamber has been reviewed. The switchboard for the unit’s own requirements has been commissioned. The fire-extinguishing system for the cable galleries has been tested.

Hydropower unit No. 5 is currently idle running.

Hydropower units Nos. 5 and 6 were launched into off-load operation on December 30, 2009. During the launch of the hydropower units, the control parameters of the hydroturbine, governor mechanism and oil pressure installation were checked. In the process of technological operations, vibration parameters were controlled by specialists from the scientific and production association for research and designing of energy equipment. The measurements testified to the excellent vibration condition of the hydropower units.

The launch of hydropower unit No. 6 for on-load operation was preceded by the start-up work that included operational testing of the unit in all running modes including switching to the grid. The program of testing has been approved by JSC Power Machines, which is the manufacturer of the turbine and the generator. The general designer JSC Lengidroproekt has confirmed compliance of the equipment, all the technological process systems and hardware of hydropower unit No. 6 and the transformer to the technical design specifications of the first launch complex.

The readiness of the hydropower units for on-load grid connection has been confirmed by Lengidroproekt, Power Machines (minutes of the meeting held by the operations center of the Russian Energy Ministry, No. 7 dated January 27, 2010). The system operator has confirmed the base mode of the hydropower units’ operation.

The connection of hydropower unit No. 6 to the grid was carried out ahead of schedule; the launch of hydropower unit No. 5 will take place in March 2010 and hydropower units Nos. 3 and 4 until the end of this year, bringing up the hydropower plant’s installed capacity to 2,560 MW.

Also, the first stage of an additional spillway capable of handling up to 2,000 cubic meters per second will be commissioned on June 1, 2010. The launch of the hydropower units and the shore spillway will make it possible to handle safely spring floods this year.

During the fulfillment of a large volume of restoration work, additional organizational and technical measures were taken along with the start of the plant’s operation to ensure industrial and fire safety.

All operations are carried out strictly to job orders and under ongoing monitoring by operating crews and reliability and safety service personnel of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP. The hydropower plant’s personnel and contractor employees were briefed as to the emergency response procedures and took part in an integrated joint emergency response exercise. An industrial TV system was installed in the hydropower units Nos. 5 and 6 main outputs area, process passageways and rooms of the turbine building, emergency and repair gate control devices, and at the overfall divide to provide for visual situation monitoring. A total of 11 camcorders were installed to monitor the operation of hydropower units Nos. 5 and 6. An emergency alert system was set up in the turbine room. All welfare rooms, including those of the contractors, were removed from the potential flood zones to flood-safe areas. All workstations were equipped with acoustic and light warning systems, and radio and telephone communications facilities.

The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant is planned to be fully restored in 2014.