The largest hydroelectric power plants of Kazakhstan are being prepared for the flood period
The largest hydroelectric power stations of the country – Ust-Kamenogorsk and Shulba hydroelectric power stations – are being prepared for the flood period. They are located in Eastern Kazakhstan. Power engineers calculate seasonal risk factors. A total check of all security systems has been deployed:
Our film crew descends into the dungeon. These dark tunnels lead to a depth of nineteen meters, to the base of the supporting structures of the Ust-Kamenogorsk hydroelectric power station. Their strength is monitored by electronics online 24/7.
Vyacheslav Vetlugin, correspondent:
– We are at the bottom of the Irtysh River under the Ust-Kamenogorsk HPP. There are more than a million tons of concrete above us, and special sensors are installed in these tunnels that monitor the operation of the dam, especially during the flood period.
Data from 400 underground sensors are sent to the server. But for safety reasons, everything needs to be double-checked personally.
Kristina Osinina, leading engineer for the repair and operation of HPP G. Ust-Kamenogorsk:
– On the pressure gauge, the supervisor takes readings three times a month, which he enters into the journal. These tubes going down are from an automatic system that takes readings twice a day.
Even the roughness in these concrete walls is monitored for the slightest cracks, tracked with an accuracy of microns. By the end of March, it is necessary to assess all flood loads at the station. Check the certificates of readiness of drainage systems-locks.
Kristina Osinina, leading engineer for the repair and operation of HPP G. Ust-Kamenogorsk:
– In addition, the operability of the spillway dam shield is being checked, testing and checking of lifting mechanisms, as well as other hydraulic equipment, an audit of drainage devices, flood control training is being carried out.
They are needed now. In March, with active snowmelt, the largest Bukhtarma reservoir in the country will be filled, excess meltwater will be released into the Irtysh through the cascades of the hydroelectric power station. Hydropower and environmental experts will calculate the volume of the spillway so as not to flood the floodplain meadows near the river coast.
Svetlana Nishchenko, the manager of the HPP G. Ust-Kamenogorsk:
– The state interdepartmental commission on the use of water resources of the Irtysh cascade is formed annually, which determines the volume of flooding, daily consumption for each of the hydroelectric power stations of the Irtysh cascade, for Bukhtarminskaya, Ust-Kamenogorsk HPPs. Then debug this graph.
In 2024, 6 cubic kilometers of water were dumped from the Bukhtarma reservoir into the Irtysh, there was no serious flooding of the floodplain. The volume of spillways will also be taken into account in real time. Today, digital platforms based on space monitoring of the state of water bodies are being developed.
Vyacheslav Vetlugin, Dmitry Pykhtin (“24KZ”)
