Sayano-Sushenskaya Hydro Power Plant Photo: Sayano Shushenskaja GESAn accident which occurred at the Sayano-Sushenskaya Hydro Power Plant, Russia’s largest power plant situated in Siberia, killed at least 12 people with 65 others still missing. The mishap took place at 4:15 am Russia time (1:15 am GMT) on Monday 17, August 2009.A preliminary labelling by RusHydro company which owns the plant tells that the accident owed to a powerful “hydro-shock” which destroyed the second turbine at the plant. The cause of this shock is still under investigation.
RusHydro’s official report says that “due to joint efforts by operating staff at the HPP and the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations, the emergency gates for all turbines at the upper pool of the site have been closed and water inflow has stopped.”
They maintain that, “all 11 gates of the water-spill dam have been partially opened. Water inflow is currently at a level of 2200 - 2400 cubic meters, which is being fully discharged "idly" through water spills.”
The report ensures that no damage has been indentified for the dam itself. The two main switchgears – 220 and 500 – have not been affected by the shock. Further the company clears out any danger to the people staying downstream. The Siberian Office of the Inter-regional Dispatching Service is working to ensure uninterrupted power supply to Siberian consumers by switching up reserves.
Extensive examination of the damages would reveal a clearer picture of the accident. It would be an indicator towards the real cause of the mishap. High officials from the Khakassia government and RusHydro are waiting for the turbine room to be dried in order to begin searching deeper into the accident.
The installed capacity of the Sayano-Sushenskaya HPP is 6,400 MW, with an average long-term production of 24 billion KW per year. The HPP's retaining structure is a concrete dam of the arch-gravity type.
The Russian disaster sends a clear message to the supporters of conventional energy generation methods. It is an illustration of the disturbance which any large scale hydro-electric project would bring about on the environmental balance. In spite of several accidents and warning signals hydro-electric projects are on full swing in countries like India.
The questions raised by environmentalists on the stability of the ecosystem and the impact which such large scale projects would have on the peaceful co-existence of life in nature needs to be seriously taken in account, at least before the next major emergency.
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