Irganai Dam is a hydroelectric dam in the Untskul region of

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. It is located on the river Avar Koisu.

History

Construction of the dam and power station started in 1979. The first generation unit of the Irganai

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

station was launched in 1998. The second generation unit was launched in 2001.

Technical description

The dam is high and long at the crest. It is filled of gravel with asphalt-concrete diaphragm. The complex includes tunnel spillway, intake structure, two diversion tunnels each, underground surge tanks, steel-reinforced concrete penstocks, and a powerhouse. Irganai is the largest derivational hydroelectric power station in Russia, with two radial-axial hydraulic units with a capacity of 200 MW each. The power station has a total installed capacity of 400 megawatts (MW) and projected capacity of 800 MW. Its mean annual electric energy output is 1,280 GWh. The dam creates the Irganai reservoir. The reservoir has a surface area of . Its full capacity is and alive storage capacity is . The dam and power station is projected by

Lenhydroproject Lenhydroproject () is a major research and design institute for hydrotechnology and hydroelectric engineering based in St. Petersburg, Russia. Since 1993 it is incorporated as a " JSC Lenhydroproject", part of RusHydro company.

and operated by

RusHydro RusHydro (previous name: Hydro-OGK, ) is a Russian hydroelectricity company. As of early 2012 it had a capacity of 34.9 gigawatts. In late 2009, it was the world's second-largest hydroelectric power producer and is the country's largest p ...

Incidents

On 7 September 2010, fire broke out at power station's hall. On 9 September 2010, Russian security forces defused an explosive device equivalent to of

trinitrotoluene Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and help ...

in the room. On 31 January 2011, a stick of

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

was discovered at the power station.

References

External links

{{stack, {{Portal, Russia, Water, Renewable energy Hydroelectric power stations in Russia Dams in Russia Buildings and structures in Dagestan Dams completed in 1998