Construction of the Nizhne-Bureiskaya HPP, Amur Region

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In recent years, Russia has decided to actively develop the Far Eastern regions. The first thing that needs to be done in the chain of life support and development stimulation is the full generation and distribution of electricity. For these purposes, a cascade of hydroelectric power stations is being built in the Amur Region, located on the Bureya River. In 2003, the Bureyskaya station was put into operation, in 2016 it is planned to launch the Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP.

A story from the 30s

In 1932 of the last century, studies began on the potential of the Bureya River in the Amur Region. Then the research was carried out by the Hydroproject Institute. A survey adit was cut through, which was reopened at the start of the construction of the first stage of the Bureya cascade. For the Nizhne-Bureiskaya HPP, a place was determined in the Doldykansky alignment, the deployment is located 950 meters above the confluence of the Doldykan River with the Bureya.

The first technical project was created in 1959, and in 1986 it was approved. The implementation of large-scale strategic construction was frozen due to the transitional period of the economy that began with the collapse of the USSR. Of the planned activities, only the resettlement of people from flooded territories was carried out.

HPP comes from the 2000s

Construction of the Nizhne-Bureiskaya HPP resumed in 2007, but the project required adjustments. In the original plan, the installation of three hydroelectric units of 107 MW each was laid down, but adaptation to modern capabilities required an increase in their number to four, but of a lower capacity (80 MW each). It was also decided to replace the planned earthen dam on the right bank with a concrete wall. Improved and other details of the original project. All changes and approvals were completed in 2011, and construction began at the same time.

Design Features

The total length of the pressure front line of the Nizhne-Bureya station (Amur region, Bureya district) is almost 746 meters, its height at the maximum point is 42 meters. The base of the dam is permeable, thanks to mud concrete structures and a grout curtain.

A concrete spillway dam 123 meters long and 47.75 meters high is being built to release water. Spillways of the surface type (5 units) were designed and built, which can be blocked in segments using gates with hydraulic drives. Repair gates are provided, manipulations with which are carried out using a gantry crane. The energy of the discharged water will be quenched in a water well built of concrete, the length of which is 88 meters.

A channel building of the station is being built near the right bank of the Bureya River. Its length is almost 97 meters, height - about 58 meters. To strengthen the walls, work is carried out on the installation of a retaining concrete wall (length100 meters). The hydroelectric power plant will be equipped with four hydroelectric units and hydroelectric generators. Installation of equipment is carried out with the help of overhead cranes. The capacity of the Nizhne-Bureiskaya HPP is 1380 cubic meters of water per second. Electricity will be supplied via power lines of 220 kW to two substations: Arkhara and Raychikhinsk. The total number of workers at the construction site during the commissioning period is planned to be up to 2,300 people.

Reservoir

Nizhnebureisk reservoir is formed with the completion of the construction of pressure structures. The useful capacity will be 77 million cubic meters, and the full capacity will be 2034 million cubic meters of water. The length of the reservoir is 90 kilometers, the maximum width is 5 kilometers, and the average depth is 13 meters. It is planned that water exchange will be carried out once during a calendar month. It is planned that the filling of the reservoir after the start-up of all parts of the Bureya energy cascade will occur within five to six days.

Slightly less than 1,000 hectares of agricultural land and almost 9,000 hectares of forest fall under flooding. The threat of flooding does not apply to settlements. Forest clearing of the pool of the future reservoir is planned before the commissioning of the station.

Fulfillment of plans

From 2011 to 2015, the main works were carried out:

• The legal entity OAO Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP was established.
• Dig a foundation pit for the main structuresstation.
• 3 highways completed, high-voltage power lines connected.
• Concrete plant built.
• The main structures of the HPP have been built.
• The residential infrastructure of the town around the station has been built.
• By the end of 2015, the main construction work was completed, including the construction of hydro-turbine and hydro-mechanical rooms with the laying of foundations for hydraulic machines.
• Construction of channel earth dam started.

Building grounds

The designed capacity of the Nizhne-Bureiskaya HPP is 320 MW, the average output per year is 1.65 billion kWh, in winter the planned capacity is 147 MW. The construction of the power plant was due to the need to override the uneven daily discharges of the more powerful Bureyskaya HPP operating upstream of the Amur River. This will avoid sharp fluctuations in the water level in the lower reservoir (pool).

The electricity generated by the Nizhne-Bureya station will be directed to the needs of Transneft facilities, and more specifically, to the construction of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline, a coal deposit, and the Vostochny cosmodrome. The electricity generated by the station will save the burning of about 700 tons of conventional units of fuel per year.

Amur Region, Bureya District in particular, as a result of the construction of the infrastructure of the cascade of stations, it will expand development opportunities, improve living conditions for the population, attract additional investment and ensure the inflow ofnew workforce.

Environmental impacts

The places where the Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP is located are almost untouched nature. There is a lot of controversy around intervention in the ecological system, local residents claim that the climate has already changed. What the consequences will be will only be known in the distant future.

When designing the cascade of power plants, environmental protection measures were planned and are being implemented. The territories of the reserves "Tract Irkun", "Zheludinsky" partially fell into the flood zone of the Nizhne-Bureiskaya HPP. To compensate for the loss of territories of nature protection zones, a new nature reserve "Bureisky" was created. He united two nature reserves and received additional forest areas in the areas of the upper and lower pools of the Bureya hydroelectric power station cascade. The total area of the Bureisky nature reserve is 132,000 hectares.

In 2015, work was carried out to transfer unique samples of flora and fauna from the flood zone. Yuri Gafarov, one of the ecologists who took part in the operation to resettle flora and fauna, said that nesting sites were built for mandarin ducks and families of Far Eastern storks. Winter huts and feeders for wild animals were also made, a large number of unique plants were transplanted from the flood zone to the territory of the new reserve.

Progress of work

According to PJSC RusHydro, the scheduled installation of hydroelectric units is currently underway, and the construction of the dam is underway. In June 2016, the height of the damwas 131 meters above sea level, the design level was 140 meters. For the construction of the dam, piles are driven in, work is being carried out without slowing down and making adjustments for the winter season. Drilling rigs and industrial heating devices were used to drill holes when laying piles in winter. Amur frosts did not spare equipment and people, but planned work was always carried out on time.

According to S. Nikulin, engineer of the production and technical department of Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP, said in August 2016, all work is proceeding according to the planned schedule. In particular, he said that the impeller has already been mounted, mortgages for hydraulic units have been made and a turbine starter has been installed. According to him, the progress of the work takes place in a strict time frame, where there is no place for haste. The engineer also noted that the adjustment of all units of hydraulic units requires almost jewelry accuracy, all units are joined without the slightest gaps. He expressed confidence that the first current in the Far Eastern energy system will arrive in 2016. However, due to the crisis and the reduction in funding for some facilities, PJSC RusHydro mentions the possibility of postponing the launch of the station to 2017.

The damming of the Bureya River took place on April 19, 2016, the water flows now pass through the spillway systems of the HPP. The readiness of concrete structures for the construction of the station is currently estimated at 90%.

Interesting facts

V. V.the first concrete pour was thrown by a wristwatch. Bishop Lucian consecrated the beginning of construction, he also presented the builders with a growth monument of a golden angel, which is now installed on the highest point of the hydroelectric power station, becoming a symbol and guardian of the construction site, and later on of the entire hydroelectric cascade.

Today, the complex of stations on the Bureya River is the largest project in post-Soviet Russia, built without relying on the legacy of the USSR, which illustrates the country's potential and its real opportunities. Many people who have been in the work area recommend visiting the place where the Nizhne-Bureiskaya HPP will begin operation very soon. Address in the Amur Region: Bureysky district, Bureysky village, Gidrostroiteley microdistrict, building 2, letter 3.