The largest power plant in Russia
Today, the opening ceremony of the tourist route took place at the most powerful power plant in Russia - the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in Siberia. It was attended by the Chairman of the Management Board - General Director of RusHydro Viktor Khmarin, Head of the Republic of Khakassia Valentin Konovalov, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism Elena Lysenkova, representatives of the tourism industry, and the media.
The Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, the first hydroelectric unit, which was commissioned in December 1978, is the largest power plant in Russia (6,400 MW), it ensures the reliable operation of the energy system throughout Siberia. The power of the station can be compared to the operation of 530 million 10W lamps. In 2020, the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP produced a record 26.6 billion kilowatt-hours. This is enough to provide electricity for a million-plus city like St. Petersburg for a year.
The hydro turbines of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP are the most powerful in Russia. There are ten of them at the station, each with a capacity of 640 MW. Each of the ten turbine water pipelines of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP can pass 340 m3 of water per second, which is six railway tanks.
The design of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP dam is unique - it is the tallest and longest arch-gravity dam in the world - 242 meters in height and 1,074 meters in length. For comparison, the main building of Moscow State University has almost the same height (240 meters), and the Cheops pyramid (139 meters) is almost two times lower. To build such a dam, 9 million cubic meters of concrete with a total weight of 20 million tons were laid - this amount is enough for the construction of a highway from Moscow to Vladivostok.
In 2020, the word "RUSSIA" was inscribed on the dam of the station, which became the world's largest inscription with the name of the country and the largest inscription on a technical structure in our country. Fifteen graffiti artists worked over the creation of the inscription, 570 meters long and 52 meters high, in the colors of the Russian tricolor. More than 9 thousand liters of paint were used for this drawing.
“Hydroelectric power plants all over the world are the largest renewable energy generation facilities,” Viktor Khmarin said at the opening of the tour route. - Today, when the world is on the verge of an energy transition to the large-scale creation and use of energy systems based on renewable energy sources, it is very important to form your own idea of how energy is generated without harming nature. A visit to the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP of RusHydro will allow people to learn about the production of "green" electricity, to see the operation of the HPP. "
The first tourist group at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP was the future power engineers - first-year students of the Sayano-Shushenskiy branch of the Siberian Federal University. An excursion was conducted along the key points of the tourist route, including the crest of the dam, the observation deck, the turbine hall of the hydroelectric power station, etc. The students visited the station's museum and got acquainted with the history of the construction of this unique hydroelectric power station. The first field surveys in the area of the future station were carried out in 1961, preparatory construction work began in 1963, and the first hydroelectric unit was commissioned in 1978.
“Khakassia, thanks to the launch of charters and the opening of new routes over the past two years, has made a tourist breakthrough. Now the region has another bright object of attraction for travelers - the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, - said the head of the Federal Agency for Tourism Zarina Doguzova. - This is a grandiose structure, an engineering miracle, surrounded by incredible nature.
Previously, tourists could only look at the hydroelectric power station from the outside, now they can enjoy its beauty and power from the inside, feel like a part of this place. The object will be of interest to both schoolchildren and students of technical specialties, lovers of industrial architecture, and ordinary tourists. Industrial tourism is popular all over the world and has great prospects in Russia. Rostourism will continue to support such initiatives and projects.»
During today's ceremony, RusHydro and a number of travel companies signed agreements on interaction and cooperation in conducting excursions to the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP. It will be possible to visit the station in organized tourist groups as part of tours in Khakassia. You can order an excursion to the hydroelectric power station no later than two weeks before the desired date in the following travel companies: TUI (Moscow), Pegas Touristiks (Krasnoyarsk), Russian Traveler (Moscow), Travel Shop (Moscow), VK Sokol (Moscow), "Karlov svor" (Khakassia), "SayanyEkoTour" (Khakassia), "Discovery" (Khakassia), "Follow us" (Khakassia), "Water element" (Khakassia).
Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is already the second hydropower plant of RusHydro, which was opened for tourists. The first such facility in August 2021 was the Chirkeyskaya HPP in the Republic of Dagestan. The opening of hydroelectric power plants for excursions was preceded by an all-Russian opinion poll by VTsIOM, which showed that 3/4 of Russians would like to visit the hydroelectric power station. This became the impetus for the implementation of an industrial tourism project in RusHydro, within the framework of which it will be possible to visit the most beautiful and powerful stations of the energy holding. In total, more than 15 RusHydro power facilities throughout Russia are preparing to receive tourists.
The development of industrial tourism by RusHydro will be accompanied by the development of tourism infrastructure. Modern tourist information centers will be built near the power facilities open to tourists for a comfortable reception of travelers. They will provide information about the power facility and the RusHydro company in a multimedia format, organize storage facilities for tourists' belongings and equipment, conduct briefings, create cafes, and buy souvenirs.
RusHydro is the leader in green energy in Russia. The Group includes 100 renewable energy facilities: 68 HPPs and PSPPs, three GeoPPs, 23 solar and six wind power plants. RusHydro is steadily increasing the installed capacity of renewable energy generation. Over the past five years, 1.1 GW of hydroelectric power plants, solar power plants and wind farms have been commissioned. The operation of RusHydro's hydroelectric power plants only last year made it possible to avoid the emission into the atmosphere of 63 million tons of CO2-equivalent released during the combustion of fossil fuels.