OREANDA-NEWS. July 26, 2012. JSC RusHydro (ticker symbol: MICEX-RTS, LSE: HYDR; OTCQX: RSHYY) announces that a new hydropower unit was commissioned and put into commercial operation at the Company's Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant, adding 640 MW to the plant's available-for-use capacity.

The new unit is already a third newly manufactured one that was put into commercial operation at Sayano-Shushenskaya. Currently, the working capacity of Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is 3,200 MW or half of the full design capacity, with five 640 MW units in operation. Assembly of a new unit is underway. Two of the four old units, restored after the accident, have been decommissioned and will be replaced by new ones.

The rehabilitation schedule for the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP calls for commissioning 3 hydro-units per year until 2014. Eventually, the plant will be fully equipped with brand new up-to-date equipment with enhanced performance characteristics that meet all safety and reliability requirements.

Power Machines and RusHydro entered into a contract to produce basic power equipment to restore the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP in November 2009. Under terms of the contract, Power Machines will produce 10 hydropower turbines, nine 640 MW hydropower generators and six excitation systems (one new generator and 4 excitation systems have been produced and installed at hydropower units launched after the completion of renovation repair work in 2010).

The useful life of the new units has been extended to 40 years and maximum efficiency now reaches 96.6%. They also have improved energy and cavitation features. The turbines will be fitted with a more efficient process protection system, which will automatically shut down the unit in case of any inadmissible deviations from controlled parameters.