The delegation included Rae Kwon Ching, the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee Chair, IPCC member, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner (the Republic of Korea), and other members of the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee: William Byun, CEO of New ASEAN Energy Inc. (Singapore); Liye Xiao, Director of Applied Superconductivity Laboratory with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Director of Interdisciplinary Research Center with the Electrical Engineering Institute (China); and Dmitri Bessarabov, Director of Hydrogen Strategy Expert and Consulting Center with the Ministry of Science and Technology (the Republic of South Africa).
The visit was part of the ceremony of announcing the Global Energy Prize laureates elected annually at the closed meeting of the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee. The ceremony took place in Volgograd
“As the oldest of the low-carbon energy generation sectors, hydropower has received new impetus due to growing interest in reducing global emissions. The advantages of hydroelectric power plants (HPP) include the possibility of long-term operation and low risks of technology obsolescence. A good example in this regard is the Volga HPP, commissioned more than 60 years ago and continues to generate electricity on a large-scale basis,” said William Byun, member of the Global Energy Prize International Committee.
Volzhskaya HPP (PJSC RusHydro branch) was selected as the venue for the visit for a reason. This is the biggest hydropower plant of the Volga-Kama HPP cascade, and also the biggest one in Europe. Its installed capacity is 2.7 GW, the average electricity generation output achieved 11.5 bn kW-h per annum. During the period of operations, Volzhskaya HPP cumulatively generated 700 bn kW-h of electricity.
The hydropower plant was built within a record short period, unprecedented in the global energy sector. The first portion of soil in the pit for the future HPP was excavated in 1952. And the first generating unit was launched in December 1958 already. At that moment, there were no analogues of such hydropower plants in the world.
Currently, there are 23 Russian-made hydro-generating units of various capacity at Volzhskaya HPP. The owner of the HPP is PJSC RusHydro, it is implementing large-scale program of upgrading the hydropower plant. As of today, all 22 hydro turbines and 19 generating units have been upgraded already. The hydro generating units are being replaced with new-generation units with the nominal capacity of 125.5 MW instead of the old ones with 115 MW capacity. The plan is to complete these comprehensive efforts in 2026.
