Nurek Hydroelectric Power Plant

a power plant on the Vakhsh River in the Pulisangin gorge near the city of Nurek, Tadzhik SSR. Planned capacity, 2,700 megawatts (MW), with nine units of 300 MW each. Annual production of electric power (in a year of average water level), 11.2 billion kW-hr.

The dam of the power plant is 300 m high, with a volume of 56 million cu m; it was constructed from locally available materials. The pressure front of the hydroengineering complex is 710 m long. The maximum head is 275 m. The power plant building is 200 m long and is adjacent to a dam, with water supply through a tunnel. Two spillway tunnels, 1.4 and 1.6 km long, are under construction. The dam forms the Nurek Reservoir. Construction of the plant began in 1961. The first two units were placed in operation in 1972. Electric power is supplied to the unified power grid of Middle Asia through transmission lines operating at 500 and 220 kilovolts.