December 24, 2012
Very fresh electricity.
People can be divided into two groups: those that use electricity (and let’s face it, that’s the vast majority of us), and those that produce electricity (a very small, select group). And that’s why I’d like to congratulate everyone on Energy Day – 22 December. I’m here on the banks of the Yenisei in the village of Cheryomushki at the Sayano–Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant.
This is a truly beautiful, fascinating place. The plant itself is a unique hydroelectric dam – the biggest in Russia, the sixth biggest in the world – that rises up to about 250 meters. It looks mightily impressive! And that goes for the inside, as well as the outside. The walls are about 100 meters thick at the base of the dam, where there’s a tunnel housing the turbines and all the other machinery.
The surrounding landscape is one of mountains, snow, frost, ski slopes…and workers celebrating their professional holiday. And the food…well! Pike rissoles, mushrooms in cream, Carpaccio and dried venison, slices of whitefish, honey with lingonberries and cedar nuts, a cedar nut liquor and various drinks made from local berries. And my laptop, a kilometer from the dam and its generators and transformers, is being charged with the very freshest electricity :)
Check out the rest of the photos here.
This was my 4th visit to a hydroelectric dam – following trips to Itaipu, the Volga GES, and Glen Canyon. They just keep getting more interesting.
Oh, and happy Energy Day!
