Konakovskaya GRES: construction history and description

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Konakovskaya GRES is one of the largest power plants in Russia. The main purpose of its construction was to increase the level of energy supply to nearby areas and strengthen energy ties with the nodes of the central and northwestern energy systems of the country.

General information

Konakovskaya GRES is located at the address: Tver region, Konakovo city, Promyshlennaya street, 12. It is located on the banks of the picturesque Ivanovo reservoir. This state district power plant, now of federal importance, was built back in the days of the USSR and was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of its foundation.

By the time it was launched into commercial operation, it was considered the largest power plant in all of Europe. Today, it is the main supplier of electricity in Russia, which supplies it to almost the entire central part of the country.

A bit of history

The construction of the Konakovskaya GRES started in 1962, but the construction site for it was prepared in advance. Its construction took place in two stages - four power units each. The first of them was launched on January 10, 1965, and the fourth - a year later. On thisconstruction of one phase of the power plant was completed. Seven years after the start of construction of the GRES, the last, eighth power unit was put into operation. In 1972, it was already operating at full capacity, which was 2400 MW.

Initially, the power plant operated on liquid fuel. During the day, it burned at least 7-10 thousand tons of fuel oil, which was delivered here by rail. By the end of the 80s of the last century, the power plant was finally switched to natural gas. It still operates on it to this day, and high-sulphur fuel oil is currently considered a reserve fuel. Thanks to the recent modernization of four power units, its installed capacity has reached 2520 MW.

In early January 1993, the privatization of the power plant took place, which was renamed OJSC Konakovskaya GRES. Since 2004, it has become a branch of the energy company OAO Enel OGK-5. Now it is part of PJSC Enel Russia, which also includes Nevinnomysskaya, Sredneuralskaya and Reftinskaya power plants.

Fuel

As mentioned above, Konakovskaya GRES is now running on natural gas. The reserve fuel for it is high-sulphur fuel oil. The required amount of gas is supplied to the power plant through two independent gas pipelines.

I must say that the share of fuel oil in the fuel balance of GRES today is less than 0.001%. The warehouse for its storage is equipped with twelve tanks with a capacity of 10 and six reinforced concrete tanks with20 thousand m³. Drain racks located on the territory of the state district power station allow 132 railway tanks with fuel oil to be drained at once.

Heat energy and industrial wastewater treatment

Hot water, which is used to heat the premises of the power plant and residential buildings in the city of Konakovo, is heated at block-type heating plants. They consist of main and peak boilers, drain coolers and heating water pumps. By the way, its source is not only two storage tanks available at the station, but also artesian wells located not far from it.

All wastewater, both domestic and fecal, is discharged to the wastewater treatment plant in the city of Konakovo. Whereas oily and oily industrial effluents end up in the treatment plant of the power plant itself.

Automation and control

All control stations, pumps, filters and heaters at the Konakovka State District Power Plant are located in buildings specially built for this purpose. To coordinate the operation of the power unit, a block control panel (BCR) was installed. It controls the main pumping equipment and other auxiliary systems, MV transformers, generator, 6 kV backup power, boiler and turbine.

Shields of each block are installed in pairs in one room. You can monitor the operation of the electrical circuit and general station devices, as well as coordinate the operation of power units from the main control panel, which is located in the control room at numbers 1 and 2. All power units without exceptionequipped with automated process control system "Kvint".