Cascade - several hydroelectric power plants located one after the other on the same river.
The cascade has the following advantages compared to one large hydroelectric power station of the same capacity on the same river:
- several successive dams flood a territory substantially smaller than one giant dam;
- one giant dam that withstands the pressure of a very large mass of water requires significant costs;
- the cascade improves the possibility of changing the capacity of hydroelectric power plants, for example, in the case of floods.
The largest power in Russia is the Angarsk Cascade, with a total operating capacity of 9,017.4 MW , an average annual output of 48.4 billion kWh or 4.8% of total consumption in the country. After the completion of the Boguchanskaya HPP in 2012, the installed capacity of the cascade will reach 12,017.4 MW , and the average annual output will reach 66 billion kWh .
The largest projected cascade in the world in terms of capacity is the Yangtze Cascade of HPPs - with a total capacity of more than 64 GW , includes the Three Gorges hydroelectric power station. [one]
The largest cascades in the Russian Federation and post-Soviet countries:
- Sevan-Hrazdan Cascade
- Kem cascade
- Almaty cascade
- Leninogorsk cascade
- Samgora cascade
- Cascade of Kovdinsky hydroelectric power stations
- Angarsk Cascade Hydroelectric Power Station
- Dnieper cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Volga-Kama cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Vakhsh cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Pas cascade
- Serebryansky cascade
- Tuloma Cascade
- Cascade of Varzob hydropower plants
- Chirchik-Bozsu cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Teriber Cascade
- Vuoksa Cascade
- Sulaksky cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Belorechensk cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Cascade of Svirsky hydroelectric power stations
- Dniester cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Yenisei cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Terek Cascade
- Kuban cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Kolyma cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Vilyui cascade of hydroelectric power stations
- Vitim cascade hydroelectric power station
Notes
- ↑ The total capacity of the HPP cascade is indicated on the basis of the known parameters of the stations, both existing and planned. In 2011, for some of the planned power plants, the installed capacity remains unknown.