OREANDA-NEWS. August 14, 2012. According to Karelia’s hydrometeorology and environment monitoring center, the equivalent of one month’s worth of rain fell on the basin of the River Nizhny Vyg in less than 12 hours on 8 August.

First the dam at Lake Soldatskoe was breached, after which the nearby railroad bed was washed out, with water rushing through and forcing its way to the Matkonezhsky Stream dam. Soon after, the water level rose above the dam crest, causing destruction of the dam’s water-retaining structures.

The water reached the hydroelectric power plant (the distance was about 3.5 km) and flooded parts of the powerhouse and other facilities of the Matkonezhskaya HPP.

The plant personnel decided to shut down the generating units for safety reasons. At the moment, water from the River Nizhny Vyg is released through dam No. 27 of Belomorcanal. There is no risk of water flooding the adjacent areas.

An emergency relief coordination center was set up under the direction of V.V. Belov, General Director of the Karelsky branch of TGC-1. Measures are being taken to remove the water from the powerhouse and other facilities of the power plant and to restore the access roads to the Matkonezhsky Stream dam.

TGC-1 asks everyone to follow all safety rules that may be appropriate for such an emergency.

Matkonezhskaya HPP

The Matkonezhskaya HPP is situated on the River Nizhny Vyg in the Belomorsky Area of the Republic of Karelia. It is part of the Vygsky cascade of HPPs, which also includes the Ondskaya, Belomorskaya, Vygostrovskaya and Palokorgskaya HPPs. The power plant was launched at its full capacity of 60 thousand kW on January 1, 1953. The current capacity of the Matkonezhskaya HPP is 63 MW. The long-term average power output is 381 million kWh.