The country’s largest hydroelectric power stations – Ust-Kamenogorsk and Shulbinskaya hydroelectric power stations are being prepared for the flood period. They are located in Eastern Kazakhstan. Energy workers calculate seasonal risk factors. A total check of all security systems has been deployed:
Our film crew goes down into the dungeon. These dark tunnels lead to a depth of nineteen meters, to the base of the load-bearing structures of the Ust-Kamenogorsk hydroelectric power station. Their strength is controlled by electronics online 24/7.
Vyacheslav Vetlugin, correspondent:
– We are located at the bottom of the Irtysh under the Ust-Kamenogorsk hydroelectric power station. There are more than a million tons of concrete above us, and special sensors are installed in these tunnels that monitor the operation of the dam, especially during flood periods.
Data from 400 underground sensors is sent to the server. But regarding safety precautions, everything needs to be double-checked personally.
Kristina Osinina, leading engineer for the repair and operation of hydroelectric power stations in Ust-Kamenogorsk:
–On the pressure gauge, the supervisor takes readings three times a month, which he enters into the log. These tubes going down are from an automatic system that takes readings twice a day.
Even roughness in these concrete walls controls the slightest cracks and is tracked down to microns. By the end of March, it is necessary to assess all flood loads on the station. Verify the readiness reports of drainage systems-gateways.
Kristina Osinina, leading engineer for the repair and operation of hydroelectric power stations in Ust-Kamenogorsk:
–In addition, the performance of the spillway dam shield is checked, lifting mechanisms, as well as other hydraulic equipment are tested, drainage devices are inspected, and flood control training is carried out.
They are needed now. In March, with active snowmelt, the largest reservoir in the country, the Bukhtarma Reservoir, will be filled; excess melt water will be released into the Irtysh through cascades of hydroelectric power stations. Hydropower engineers and environmental experts will calculate the volume of the spillway so as not to flood the floodplain meadows near the river coast.
Svetlana Nishchenko, manager of the Ust-Kamenogorsk hydroelectric power station:
–Annually, a state interdepartmental commission is formed on the use of water resources of the Irtysh cascade, which determines the volume of floods and daily flow for each of the hydroelectric power stations of the Irtysh cascade, for the Bukhtarma and Ust-Kamenogorsk hydroelectric power stations. Then this schedule is debugged.
In 2024, 6 cubic kilometers of water were released from the Bukhtarma reservoir into the Irtysh; there were no serious floods of the floodplain. The volume of spillways will also be taken into account in real time. Today, digital platforms are being developed based on space monitoring of the condition of water bodies.
Vyacheslav Vetlugin, Dmitry Pykhtin («24KZ»)
