TGC-1 in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast
The Nevsky branch currently has the bulk of TGC-1 JSC’s production capacities. The branch includes 9 cogeneration plants and 7 hydro power plants.
History of Development of the Region’s Energy Industry
The era of electricity in St. Petersburg began in the 1870s. At that time, Alexander Lodygin developed an electric lamp, Pavel Yablochkov’s “Russian Light” conquered Paris, experiments were being set up to transmit electric energy over a distance, and in St. Petersburg, the design of lighting of Liteiny Bridge was going full speed ahead, and the first electric power plant was being constructed at Okhta gunpowder factories.
In 1883, St. Petersburg Administrative Board issued a concession to Siemens-Halske for lighting Nevsky Prospect, and 32 electric lamps were lit for the first time on the section from the Admiralty to Anichkov Bridge. The electric lamps were supplied from electric power plants on barges moored at the Moika and Fontanka berths. At the same time, electric power plants in Tsarskoe Selo and Vasilievsky Island were constructed, and so-called house electric power plants became popular. In 1897-98, three central electric power plants appeared at once.
In 1906, Heinrich Graftio designed and a year later commissioned the Streetcar power station. Fifteen years later, on October 8, 1922, the first thermal power plant in the USSR, Red October, was commissioned in Petrograd.
In 1918, construction of Volkhovskaya hydro power plant began. The hydro power plant was opened in 1926, and reached full design capacity in a year. With the startup of this hydro power plant, commissioning of a number of substations, and a 35 kV cable feeding ring, a system for electricity distribution and electric power plant control from a central control station was created.
Nizhne-Svirskaya hydro power plant was founded in 1927 and commissioned in 1933. At the same time, the Svir-Leningrad 220 kV electric power line was commissioned, which was the first power line ever built completely with domestic equipment.
In 1929, the Centralnaya cogeneration plant was upgraded, and powdered coal began to burn in the boiler furnaces of the Soviet Union. In 1933, Dubrovskaya state district power plant was commissioned as the nation’s first electric power plant built entirely by Soviet specialists. All of its equipment was manufactured by domestic factories.
Post-War Period
After reconstruction, Vasileostrovskaya cogeneration plant became the first cogeneration plant combining electricity generation based on industrial and household district heating. In 1950, construction of Narvskaya hydro power plant began, and five years later the plant was commissioned to its full capacity of 125 MW. Construction of this hydro power plant solved the problem of electricity supply to Leningrad, Leningrad Oblast, and the Estonian Republic. In 1955-1958, three more cogeneration plants were commissioned: Pervomaiskaya, Avtovskaya, and Vyborgskaya. The period of intensive development of the Leningrad power and heating grid in 1970-1980 was associated with construction of the Severnaya and Yuzhnaya cogeneration plants with 100 and 250 MW heating units.
TGC-1 in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast Today
TGC-1 in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast include 9 CHPPs and two cascades – Ladoga and Vuoksa. The hydropower potential of the region has been developed in the basins of the Narva, Vuoksa and Volkhov rivers. Total capacity of the plants in the region: electricity: above 4,000 MW, heat: around 12,000 Gcal/h.
In 2006, Pravoberezhnaya CHPP was commissioned.
In 2008, a large-scale renovation of the Vuoksa HPPs Cascade began.
In 2009–2010, two new turbine units at Vyborgskaya and Vasileostrovskaya CHPPs and four hydroelectric generating units at Volkhovskaya, Svetogorskaya and Lesogorskaya HPPs were commissioned.
In 2011, TGC-1 commissioned new hydroelectric generating unit of Lesogorskaya and Svetogorskaya HPPs of the Vuoksa Cascade, and new CCGT power unit of Pervomayskaya CHPP in Saint Petersburg was put into operation. Construction of the steam-gas generating unit at Yuzhnaya CHPP has been completed.
In 2012, the Company continued the renovation of the Vuoksa HPPs Cascade by implementing a new (six out of eight) hydroelectric generating unit at Lesogorskaya HPP. New CCGT power generating unit with a capacity of 450 MW started operating at Pravoberezhnaya CHPP in Saint Petersburg.
In 2013, hydroelectric generating unit No. 4 was commissioned at Lesogorskaya HPP of TGC-1 in Leningrad Oblast. This served as an end for the grand renovation of the Vuoksa HPPs Cascade – the largest power source in the Karelian Isthmus. As a result of the refurbishment, installed electric capacity of the Cascade increased up to 240 MW.
In 2014, the indoor switchgear (ISG 110/6 KW) of the Power Plant No.2 of Centralnaya CHPP was commissioned in Saint Petersburg.
In 2015, the construction of a new capacity at the Power Plant No.1 of Centralnaya CHPP, as a part of two power units with gas turbines which are 50MW in electric capacity each and 240 Gcal/h in total heat capacity, began, as well as the erection of the joint auxiliary complex at Pervomayskaya CHPP.
In 2017, the construction of CHPP GTP at PP-1 was completed, and the auxiliary complex at Pervomayskaya CHPP was commissioned.