Energy workers carried out a thorough training at TGC-1's Narvskaya HPP

On 9 April 2019, a thorough training for water flood-related emergency liquidation took place at TGC-1's Narvskaya HPP.

The legend has it that a big amount of ice has accumulated near the ice barrier and the overflow dam due to adverse weather conditions, and the water level in the water-storage basin has risen. To prevent water from reaching critical levels, the dam gate is opened. The plant's shift manager turns off hydroelectric generating unit No. 1 and gives the command to open the ice pass for increasing the water and sludge pass. The engineer of the machine block reports that the ice pass is jammed with a foreign object. Divers inspect the ice pass' valve and successfully remove the foreign object. The plant's staff lift the intake screen with ice and sludge stuck onto it and remove the ice with a steam generator. The plant's shift manager puts the equipment in operation.

An alarm is triggered on the control panel. The 10 kV switch equipment has been damaged. There is a combustion, and the fire spreads to the control cables. Before a fire service manages to get there, the HPP's voluntary fire protection group starts to locate the fire, and employees of the Russian Emergencies Ministry put it out.

“As I see it, the today's training was perfect. The staff has been prepared, and cooperation between the plant's energy workers and external organisations was worked through. We saw a real liquidation of a serious breakdown. I hope, we won't have to put our skills and knowledge to practice,” concluded Oleg Medvedev, Head of TGC-1's Narvskaya HPP.

Reference

TGC-1's Narvskaya HPP was commissioned in 1955. It is located on the Narva River in Ivangorod in the Kingisepp District of Leningrad Oblast. The Narva River flows out of the Lake Chudskoe, flows along the border between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Estonia, and runs into the Narva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. The HPP's dam serves as the state border between Russia and Estonia. The HPP's total installed capacity is 124.8 MW.

TGC-1 is the leading producer of electricity and heat in the North-West of Russia. It comprises 53 power plants in four constituent entities of the Russian Federation: St. Petersburg, the Republic of Karelia, and Leningrad and Murmansk Oblasts.