24.11.2022
Russia to build eight new hydropower plants and six hydroelectric plants
Photo by: AscentXmedia / iStock
A total of 14 new power plants may be built in Russia in the near future — eight hydropower plants (HPPs) and six pumped-storage power plants (PSPPs). Andrey Maksimov, Director of the Department of Electric Power Industry Development of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, said this at the Atomexpo 2022 international forum.
“Eight projects for hydropower plants and six projects for hydroelectric power plants are something that is currently under development and will definitely be implemented,” Maximov said.
In 2021, Nikolai Shulginov, head of the Russian Energy Ministry, said that the Russian energy market would need at least 5 GW of hydroelectric pumped storage power plant (HPP) capacity after 2035 until 2050. The Energy Minister noted that “we would like it to be faster”, but the ministry understands “the cost of the issue and the impact on the market”.
Hydropower plants and hydroelectric plants are both related to hydropower, but they have some differences. A hydropower plant converts the kinetic energy of the water flow into electricity. A hydroelectric plant, in addition to this function, allows electric pumps to pump water from a lower point behind the dam to an upper point upstream of the dam, thereby balancing out the daily imbalances of electricity generation and consumption. In other words, a pumped storage power plant consumes “extra electricity” at night by pumping water upwards, while during the day it flushes this water down through the generators and returns electricity to the grid. In this case, the power plant could be completely artificial.
Cover photo: CHUNYIP WONG / iStock
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