Chirkei Hydroelectric Power Plant

a power plant constructed on the Sulak River in Buinaksk Raion, Dagestan ASSR, between 1963 and 1976. It has an installed capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW), supplied by four 250-MW units, and an average annual output of 2.43 billion kilowatt-hours. The maximum head is 206 m. The hydroengineering complex has a concrete arch dam 231 m high and 338 m along the crest (one of the largest in the world), a water intake, a powerhouse integrated in the dam, and a tunnel spillway. It forms a reservoir with a volume of 2.8 cu km; the Tishiklin Dike, which provides 10 cu m of water per sec for irrigation, has been built on the reservoir. The power generated by the Chirkei Hydroelectric Power Plant is supplied to the integrated power grid of the Northern Caucasus.