OREANDA-NEWS. January 24, 2011. Since the year beginning, the works at the Zagorskaya PSPP-2 under construction in Sergiev-Posad region of the Moscow Oblast have entered a new phase. The contractors started installing the basic embedded parts of the pump turbine unite: cone and foundation ring, stator and spiral case of starter units No.1 and 2. Completion of this construction stage will allow to begin installation of the hydroelectric units' working gear.

At present, completion rate of the plant construction work is 45%. The first two hydroelectric units with combined installed capacity of 420 MW are scheduled for commissioning in December, 2012. PSPP-2 will reach its full capacity of 840 MW in 2014. One of the large-scale types of work at the plant unit is installing the spiral case of the hydroelectric unit.

According to construction schedule, the following works will have to be completed during the 2011:  installation of water conduit of Unit No.1, damming of the flow tube of the reversing water intake, completing the dam separating existing PSPP and PSPP under construction, completion of construction and installation works at the PSPP assembly site,  mounting of the spiral case of hydroelectric unit No.1, SF6-gas insulated equipment of the switch gear and control gear (500 kV KRUE), precommissioning and developing of the lower basin section in the Gardel River area.

The 500 kV KRUE building construction is underway. SF6-gas insulated equipment manufactured by Siemens arrived at the construction site in December 2010 and was transferred for assembly and installation. The 500 kV KRUE will be connected to the operating voltage in the fourth quarter of 2011. The new switchgear and control gear will  become common for the existing PSPP and the one  under construction-the existing 500 kV ORU outdoor switchgear will be replaced. The500 kV KRUE equipment it is more reliable and requires minimum maintenance throughout its service life and therefore fewer operating personnel.

Concrete works are under way on the construction site, including on assemblage site, transformer workshop, tailwater gate bays and unit area block. Embedded parts of the tailwater gate bays are being installed. In January the contractor installation of the first six sections of Unit 1 water conduit has been completed, works continued on concreting the heads of piles and grillage and installing reinforced concrete beams, slabs and metal mounting runs of water conduit 1 of 0-6 section. At the water intake construction site completed the of a precast concrete floor for the flow channel of four hydroelectric units and continued concreting the tailwater transition sections and upper bulkhead blocks have been installed.

OJSC Zagorskaya PSPP-2 is a 100% subsidiary of JSC RusHydro, set up in 2006. Zagorskaya PSPP-2, one of the RusHydro's priority projects, is being constructed in the vicinity of the existing Zagorskaya PSPP, a branch of JSC RusHydro. By the System Operator's estimate, the deficit of flexible demand management capacity in Russia's Central Region is 2.5 to 3 million kW, including about 1.5 million kW in Moscow Region. The second stage of Zagorskaya pumped storage power plant is intended to partially deal with that problem and to prevent emergencies in Moscow and Moscow Region. Zagorskaya PSPP-2 has been included in the Master Plan for power generation facilities until 2030 approved by the Russian Government in June 2010.

The Plant's facilities comprise upper and lower ponds, water intake, penstocks and plant unit, power delivery units and infrastructures. The Zagorskaya PSPP-2 construction site is over 700 ha in area and has more than 500 pieces of equipment and 1,500 people engaged in 24 hour work.