Tymoshenko launches the first unit of Dnister Hydroelectric Power Plant
On December 22 the Dnister Hydroelectric
Power Plant – the largest in Europe – was put into operation. Prime
Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was given the well-earned right to press the
start button on the plant’s first unit.
"In this crisis year we finished the construction of the largest
hydroelectric power plant in the EU and CIS – the Dnister Hydroelectric
Power Plant. Construction had been stalled for 25 years, since Soviet
times." Yulia Tymoshenko noted. The launch of the first unit, she
added, is the realization of the government’s energy strategy for
Ukraine through 2030.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the board of OJSC Ukrhidroenerho, Semen
Potashnik, assured the Prime Minister that the construction of the
Dnister Hydroelectric Power Plant will be completed on time. "I want to
assure Yulia Tymoshenko that the government’s decisions to launch the
second unit in 2011 and the third unit in 2012 will be implemented," he
said.
The Dnister HPP is one of the largest pumped storage electric power
plants in the world. Construction began in 1983. Its main function is
to regulate the frequency and schedule of the load on the Ukrainian
electricity system and build an emergency reserve of electricity.
According to designs, the Dnister HPP (7 pump-turbines) will have
an electrical output of 2268 megawatts in generating mode and 2947
megawatts in pumping mode. The station will have seven identical
pumping units.
The overall cost of the project is 5.8 billion hryvnia.
The first unit is planned to produce 240 million kilowatt-hours of
electricity in 2010. The second and third units will be operational in
2011 and 2012, respectively. The 7 planned units will have a total
capacity of close to 2.5 million kilowatts.
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