Hydropower engineering Tetelmin estimated the restoration of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station as not very expensive

Kakhovskaya HPP will be restored. According to the Acting Governor of the Kherson region Vladimir Saldo, the relevant design work has already begun. About how long it will take to put the power plant into operation, what types of work will need to be done, we talked with Vladimir Tetelmin, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, hydropower engineer, professor at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

“I think that these design works have been going on for a long time,” says Professor Vladimir Tetelmin. – It was obvious that the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station needed to be restored. If it were built from scratch, today the degree of its readiness is 95%. It is necessary to reasonably add these 5%, and we will receive 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours per year. Which is very important for this energy-deficient region.

According to the expert, in order to carry out the design work, it is first necessary to carry out a complete survey of the dam body.

— It is necessary to examine in an expert way what was destroyed. I don’t think it has been done yet. Kakhovskaya HPP is under fire. But general work can already be carried out. It is necessary to redesign hydroelectric units, or at least modernize them. Because the Kakhovskaya HPP was built in the mid-1950s. A lot of time has passed.

Based on his experience, the academician believes that if there were conditions to obtain the initial information, then the design would take no more than 3-4 months.

– It is clear that both the population and the enterprises located there need this electricity, which can be generated by the Kakhovskaya HPP. Vladimir Saldo, who speaks about the beginning of design work, is, of course, right. I think that he voiced this information not on his own behalf, but after consulting with experts, with hydropower engineers. I believe that this work is already quietly underway. Because it is obvious that the HPP should be put into operation.

The length of the pressure front of the dam, the soil dam, as the professor says, is about three kilometers. The concrete dam itself is about 500 meters long.

— Both the soil dam and the body of the dam itself are intact. There is massive concrete that holds pressure. The body of the dam may have shaken a little, but it is a monolithic structure, I am sure that it was not damaged. It is necessary to restore the crest of the dam, its upper part. Destroyed head, carrying bulls – concrete supports of movable metal gates. It will be necessary to restore spillways through which excess water is discharged due to floods and other things.

And weirs, and gates, and regulation of the level of the head pool – all this, according to the expert, is determined precisely by a concrete dam. Under its protection is the very building of the machine room, where the hydraulic units are located.

As our interlocutor says, we can restore all this technologically, everything has been worked out.

“Moreover, Russian hydraulic engineers have already missed real work. After all, real hydroelectric power stations have not been built in our country for 30 years. All of our HPPs were built during the Soviet era. They, in fact, are now saving our energy.

Acting Governor of the Kherson region Vladimir Saldo, in turn, noted: no matter how much money is needed to restore the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, this is an economically feasible project that will pay off many times over.

“Restoration work will not be very expensive,” says Vladimir Tetelmin. – The Kakhovskaya HPP itself costs billions and billions of rubles. And now, to put it into operation and complete the entire amount of necessary work, it will take about 200 billion rubles. This amount was announced by Vladimir Saldo to journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

This amount, according to the professor, is, in general, lifting. It includes the execution of both design work and installation, construction work.

“Any hydroelectric power plant is the lowest in terms of cost among all types of energy generation, if we take into account the production of one kilowatt-hour of energy. In Soviet times, a kilowatt-hour generally cost half a penny at those prices. If a nuclear power plant produces about 20 cents per kilowatt-hour, then a hydroelectric power plant produces five times less. Moreover, hydroelectric power plants do not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The hydroelectric power plant fits well into the climate agenda that the whole world is talking about. Therefore, all the arguments are in favor of restoring the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station faster.

According to Vladimir Tetelmin, it is necessary to fill the Kakhovskoye reservoir, as well as restore water intake to the North Crimean Canal.

– In the Kakhovka reservoir there is a fairly large cubic capacity of water. (The total volume of the reservoir during its operation is 18.18 cubic kilometers. — Auth.) The region is arid. We need to accumulate water. Now it is wasted and merges into the Black Sea. It is necessary that it work for the benefit of people, go to irrigation and water supply. Everything voiced is reasonable, real and doable.