Saratov Hydroelectric Power Plant

(full name, Lenin Komsomol Saratov Hydroelectric Power Plant), one of the hydroelectric power plants of the Volga Hydroelectric System. It is located near the city of Balakovo in Saratov Oblast, RSFSR. The plant’s installed capacity is 1.36 gigawatts (1.36 million kilowatts); the average annual production of electric energy is 5.4 billion kilowatt-hours. Construction was begun in 1956, and full capacity was reached in 1970.

The hydraulic-engineering complex includes a hydraulic fill dam, with a length along the crest of 1,260 m and a height of 40 m, a two-lane single-lift lock, upstream and downstream canals, a dam on the river’s left bank, a fish ladder, and a powerhouse adjoining the dam containing the hydraulic and electrical equipment. The powerhouse has a length of 1,100 m and contains 24 turbine-generator units, of which 21 have a capacity of 60 megawatts (MW) each, two have a capacity of 45 MW each, and one, used to supply the plant’s own needs, has a capacity of 10 MW. The dam creates the Saratov Reservoir. Electric energy is transmitted through lines operating at 500 and 220 kilovolts to the power grid of the Middle Volga Region, and from there to the Integrated Power Grid of the USSR.