Tip 1: Where is the largest hydropower plant
Tip 1: Where is the largest hydropower plant
The world's largest hydroelectric power station is inthe county of Yichang in the Chinese province of Hubei. It is located on the Yangtze River and is called "Sanxia" or "Three Gorges", translated into Russian. Its design capacity is 22.5 gigawatts.
Three Gorges
The hydroelectric dam is built in thethe name of Sandoping in the middle of the Xiling gorge, the longest of the three gorges through which the Yangtze River and its tributaries make their way through the mountain range of Wushan. Before Xiling was considered dangerous for travel. It was full of frightening whirlpools and steep rapids. After the dam was put into operation, the depth of the river in this place increased from 3 meters to a hundred. Above is the gorge of Wu or the Great Gorge - the second in the Sanxia system. It is formed by the Yangtze tributary of the River of Unjiang. It is called the "Golden Helmet in Silver Armor" gorge. The name comes from the shape of the rocks rising above the river and their color. The water level, after the construction of the hydroelectric power station, rose by 30 meters. The most beautiful of the three gorges is Quutung. The width of this gorge does not exceed 150 meters, and the mountains on both sides reach 1200 meters. Narrow canyons among the high stepped mountains create an impressive picture. In addition, there are many attractions created by nature itself, and human hands: chalk walls and stalactite caves, narrow footpaths in the mountains and much more. The natural region of the Three Gorges is considered one of the most picturesque corners of the PRC, famous for its landscapes and historical monuments. Now, China's travel companies celebrate a real boom of river cruises in these places. The region is famous for its newly built largest hydroelectric power station on the planet.Hydroelectric power station
National People's Congressapproved the plan for the construction of the Sanxia hydroelectric power station in 1992. The construction began on December 14, 1994. The dam, made of concrete and steel, was fully commissioned in 2009. Its length is 2335 meters and its height is 185 meters. Generate electricity at the station of 32 main generators, with a capacity of 700 megawatts. In addition, there are two more 50 megawatt generators. The main generators weigh about 6 thousand tons each. They are made at two joint ventures. The first company includes the French company Alstom, the Swiss ABB Group, the Norwegian Kvaerner and the Chinese Haerbin Motor. The second venture includes German firms Voith and Siemens, American General Electric and Chinese Oriental Motor. The total power of the generators is 22,500 megawatts. At present, after many years of construction, installation and testing, the power plant is operating in full. In 2012, HPP produced a record 98.1 billion kWh of electricity or a seventh of all electricity produced by China. An important function of the dam of the "Three Gorges" hydroelectric power station is to reduce the risk of seasonal flooding in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. So in 1954 the river flooded about 200 thousand square kilometers. Then more than 33 thousand people died, and about two million people were left homeless. As expected, the dam is able to minimize the impact of even a similar super-flood.Tip 2: Where is the St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River is one of the largest rivers in North America. It flows from west to east, connecting the system of freshwater lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.
The St. Lawrence River is one of the largest riversNorth America. Its basin passes through the territory of the United States and Canada, connecting the freshwater lakes of St. Clair, Ontario, Erie, Michigan, Huron and the Upper Lake with the Atlantic Ocean. The length of the St. Lawrence River is 1,197 kilometers, and the area of the basin is 1,030,000 kilometers. The river basin is one of the most densely populated areas of Canada. Here there are agricultural lands and villages, where about 20,000,000 people live. In the valleys, grow potatoes, crops and vegetables, and graze cattle. Relief along the coastline of the river is very diverse, sheer cliffs alternate with valleys and hills. Due to increased seismic activity, the coastline is severely fractured. In places there are fjords, the largest among them is the fjord of the Saguenay, having a depth of 244 meters and a length of more than 96 kilometers.
Flora and fauna
On the banks of the river birds nest. On the coastal marshes, about 300 representatives of birds live. Several hundred species of fish live in the waters of the river, as well as blue whales, beluga whales, minke whales and fin whales. Most often, it is possible to observe the minke whales emerging from the water, and blue whales are rare. The vegetative world in the coastal zone is represented by coniferous tree species. Tui, fir, and douglas grow along the coast.Saguenay-Saint-Laurent National Park
The site of the St. Lawrence River, located on thesouth-east of the province of Quebec, is part of the Marine National Park. For tourists in the park there are pedestrian routes and recreation areas. Also, guests are offered all kinds of sports activities: climbing (routes through the ferrata category), fishing from the boat, kayaking and yachting, and in winter snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.Economic importance
The St. Lawrence River - the sourcehydropower. It built three hydroelectric power stations. The most powerful is the St. Lawrence power plant (generated capacity 1.9 GW), it is used by the United States and Canada. HPP Robert-Sander - the second in power (1.7 GW), the power plant belongs to Canada. 40 km from Montreal, there is the third hydroelectric power station - Boarnoy (output capacity is 1.6 GW). Navigation is developed on the river. Between Quebec and Montreal, large cargo ships cruise through it, delivering millions of tons of cargo each year to the ports. During the freeze-up period, which lasts from December to April, navigation stops in the upper reaches of the river.Tip 3: Where is Novosibirsk?
Novosibirsk is the third largestpopulation of the city of Russia after Moscow and St. Petersburg. It is part of the administrative center of the same name and the Siberian Federal District. Founded in 1893, the city as of January 1, 2014 inhabited 1.547 million people.
Geographical position of Novosibirsk
There is a large Siberian city in the southeastpart of the West Siberian Plain and on the large Priobskoe Plateau, which adjoins the valley of a fairly full river Ob. Not far from the city of Novosibirsk is also located a reservoir, formed after the construction of a dam for the Novosibirsk Hydroelectric Power Station. It is believed that the city is on the very border of two natural zones - forest and forest-steppe, with the left part of Novosibirsk has a flat relief, and the right, on the contrary, is characterized by a large number of ravines, which are a transition to the mountainous relief of the Salair ridge. The distance between Novosibirsk and Moscow is about 3200 kilometers, and between the Siberian city and the Northern Capital of Russia - 3,900 kilometers. Neighbors of the city and the nearby region are: from the west and north-west Omsk region, on the south side - the Altai Territory, from the south-east and east - the Kemerovo Region, and from the north and the northeast - the Tomsk Region. Thus, Novosibirsk, spread over a total area of 505.62 square kilometers, is located quite close to the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as from a large number of economically important cities and towns for Russia.Other information about the location of Novosibirsk
Geographical location of the capital of Novosibirskregion is also conditioned by its location in the continental climatic zone, the average annual temperature in which is 1.8 ° C. The average winter temperature in Novosibirsk is minus 16 ° C, and the summer temperature is plus 19 ° C. And the record of cold weather was recorded in the city in January 1915, when the thermometer dropped to a minus of 51.1 ° C, and the maximum on June 7, 1967 - plus 36.6 ° C. The average annual number of hours of sunshine in Novosibirsk is 2077. Until the 1990s, the capital of the Novosibirsk region was part of the so-called seventh time zone, which led to sometimes very curious cases. So, the flight from Tolmachevo to Novosibirsk airport was about 4 hours, and takeoff and landing took place at the same time. After the 90's the city was moved to the sixth time zone or the so-called Omsk Time Zone (OMST), as a result, the time difference in it became 3 hours and 6 hours from the "zero mark" of the time. But the changes did not end there, and on March 27, 2011 Novosibirsk was returned to the old time, and Moscow was "moved" an hour ahead, resulting in a difference of 3 hours remained the same.Tip 4: Russia's hydropower plants and their potential
Hydroelectric power stations provide significant assistancehuman civilization: they provide the entire industry and people's housing with electricity. Although their construction and pours into huge amounts, but all the costs are more than pay off.
Characteristics of Russian HPPs
HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATION in comparison with CHPP and NPP produces the mostcheap energy. When constructing such structures, two main problems may arise: cost and seasonality. As for the second nuance, here we mean the idle hydroelectric power station in the winter period, as the rivers freeze. In Russia, there are two types of hydroelectric power plants. The first are built on mountain rivers, while others are on large plains. The latter are the overwhelming majority of Russian hydropower stations. It should be noted that in European countries these stations are considered unprofitable, but on the territory of Russia they are located exactly on the plains. Such a solution of power engineers is explained by the excellent irrigation of lands adjacent to the HPP.Varieties of hydropower plants in Russia
The operation of hydroelectric power plants is based on the principletransforming the kinetic energy of falling water flows into electricity. Three types of hydroelectric power stations are known. For the work of the first of them, special structures of hydraulic engineering plan are needed, in which the necessary pressure of water is formed. The process of energy conversion takes place in turbines. It is here that the kinetic energy becomes mechanical, and subsequently - electrical. Such HPPs are located on slow flat rivers. The next type of hydropower station is a tidal station. They are built on the shore of the sea, and tides are used to create energy. The construction of such structures is extremely expensive, and the energy in them is not constantly developed. That is why there are very few similar HPPs on the territory of Russia. The third type is the pumped storage stations. Such designs generate energy when pumping water from one reservoir to another. And the tanks have the same volume, and one of the tanks is above the other. At night, the liquid is pumped to the upper, and in the afternoon gradually descends into the lower one. The head, which is obtained as a result of manipulation, and is used to generate electricity. The new type of HPP is hose or dysplastic. It is installed in remote and small rivers due to the simplicity of the design. Currently, the hydroelectric economy of the Russian Federation includes thirteen large and about one hundred small HPPs. The most powerful ones are located on the Yenisei, the Volga and the Ob River. Over the year, the largest hydroelectric power stations are capable of generating more than twenty billion kilowatts of electricity.Tip 5: Bratsk Hydro Power Plant: How it all began
The largest electricity producer inRussia Bratskaya HPP is located in the city of Bratsk, Irkutsk region. The main component of Irkutskenergo. In 2010, the Bratsk hydropower plant produced a trillionth sq / h, which is an absolute record on the Eurasian continent.
