OREANDA-NEWS. December 6, 2007. According to the terms of the Contract Power Machines shall reconstruct hydraulic unit equipment (unit No. 1) of Volkhovskaya HPP to increase its capacity from 9 to 12 MW, the company's press service informs. The company shall manufacture and supply hydraulic turbine and hydrogenerator and provide their supervision. Within the framework of reconstruction turbine control equipment and generator excitation system will be modernized and hydraulic unit automatic process control system (APCS) will be implemented using microprocessor control panels of in-house design and production.

A set of construction, erection, electric installation and commissioning operations will be conducted under Power Machines supervision and specific companies engaged. Power unit will be reconstructed by 2008.

Five hydraulic units of 9 MW capacity and three units of 12 MW capacity are now being operated at Volkhovskaya HPP. The last three units' equipment was reconstructed in the 1990ies.

For the present moment Power Machines and JSC TGK-1 are studying the possibility of reconstruction of the rest four hydro units of Volkhovskaya HPP and two hydro units of Nizhne-Svirskaya HPP.

Volkhovskaya HPP is located in Leningrad district on the river Volkhov. This is the first hydro power plant constructed upon the project of G.O. Graftio within the framework of Russia’s Electrification State Program (GOELRO). On the 19th of December, 1926 an opening ceremony took place at Volkhovskaya HPP and three hydro units of Swedish production were started up. The ceremony was attended by the members of the Government. In 1927 the rest power units were started up. The power plant is a historical monument of Russian science and engineering.In the 1920ies specialists of Electrosila worked out first hydraulic generators of Russian origin to lay the foundation of Russian power engineering scientific and technical school.