The Polotsk Hydroelectric Power Station has been commissioned
The Polotsk HPP is a dam-type, run-of-river, low-head hydroelectric power station.
The installed electrical capacity of the station is 21.66 MW. This is enough to cover the consumption of four districts of the region: Lepel, Ushachi, Chashniki, and Rossony. It is planned that the average annual generation will be 110 million kWh. The Polotsk HPP, along with the Vitebsk HPP, will become the most powerful HPPs in the country. The use of water energy on such a scale is a new direction for Belarus, and as the experience of many countries around the world shows, it is the right one.
The implementation of the investment project "Construction of the Polotsk HPP on the Western Dvina River in the Vitebsk Region" was initiated by RUP "Vitebskenergo" in 2011. The general contractor for the construction was the Russian company OJSC "VO "Technopromexport". Representatives of the Czech company Mavel, whose equipment was installed at the HPP, were involved in servicing the facility during construction together with specialists from RUP "Vitebskenergo". In total, about ten design, construction, and electrical engineering organizations were involved in the project. The investment project can be called international, as Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, and Serbian specialists worked on it.
The project consists of 3 parts and 15 commissioning complexes. The main construction objects are the hydro-node, including five hydro units from the Czech company Mavel, the power output scheme to the energy system, and the reservoir.
The reservoir has its peculiarities – its length is 83 km. Large-scale work has been carried out in this section: reconstruction of bridges and crossings, strengthening of banks, clearing of woody and shrubby vegetation, elimination of marshy areas. A distinctive feature of the Western Dvina basin near the city of Polotsk is that the structure of the banks allows for the creation of a water reserve without flooding significant territories. During the construction of the Polotsk HPP, only 6 auxiliary buildings in the adjacent settlements were demolished. The construction of a navigation lock is not provided for in this project; its construction will be carried out separately when the station is already in operation. However, measures are provided for the passage of fish through the structures of the hydro-node; a special scheme has been developed for this, agreed with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.
About 20 people will service the station. Two people involved in automation have undergone training in the Czech Republic, and the rest of the staff trained at the Grodno HPP, where similar Czech equipment is installed.
According to calculations, fuel savings will amount to about 35 thousand tons of conventional fuel per year.
Belenergo Production Association.