Phase 2 (main period) construction of Bagaevsky Hydroelectric Complex on the Don River

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Stroytransgaz JSC has become a general contractor for Phase 2 construction of Bagaevsky Hydroelectric Complex on the Don River. FTI "ROSTRANSMODERNIZATSIYA" is the project owner. The contract price is RUB 27.9 billion. It is planned to complete the works by the end of 2024.

Today, Bagaevsky Hydroelectric Complex near Arpachin settlement is one of the largest transport infrastructure facilities under construction in the Rostov Region. The project is designed to address the problem of the Don shallowing; when the project is completed, the throughput of inland waterways will increase by 19 million tons.

The project will ensure safe navigation at the Lower Don as a waterway of international importance, create a modern and efficient transport infrastructure, accelerate the transportation of goods and reduce transportation costs for the economy. The construction of Bagaevsky Hydroelectric Complex will also allow to increase the competitiveness of freight by inland water transport, eliminate infrastructure-related restrictions in the main freight and passenger routes on the Don River and avoid the loss of the fleet throughput.

The main operational purpose of Bagaevsky Hydroelectric Complex is to ensure the required course dimensions (4m depth, 80m width and 500m radius of curvature) in the problem area and lock chamber sills of Kochetovsky Hydroelectric Complex. In addition, Bagaevskoye Reservoir can be used by fisheries, for municipal, industrial and agricultural water supply.

Based on the location of Phase 2 facilities, to ensure an effective start of construction and installation works, it is provided to erect facilities simultaneously both at the gates of the hydroelectric complex and in the reservoir area.

In the hydroelectric complex range, a navigable lock chamber, upper and lower access ducts with berthing and guiding structures, a spillway dam, a fish-pass lock chamber, an earth dam, a fish pass and spawning channel, an operator settlement, an access road, production, service, maintenance and auxiliary facilities, a water intake, a pumping station and central control building will be built. Dams for engineering protection of the areas, sections of the bank protection and bed straightening and the Aksai Spillway and Controlling Facility will be built at Bagaevskoye Reservoir. In addition, the reservoir area and downstream section will be dredged.

We note that in 2020, Stroytransgaz JSC completed the construction of Phase 1 (pre-construction) of Bagaevsky Hydroelectric Complex. As part of the project, a navigable bypass channel to transfer the navigable pass for the period of work (dredging of the bypass channel to a depth of 4 m, the total cut amount was around 1.7 million cubic meters) and the power transmission line for power supply of the construction camp were built. Workers also erected the berth of the construction base and created hydraulic fill areas for office buildings and structures of the future hydroelectric complex. To implement these tasks, builders used the soil cut during dredging operations.

In the European part of Russia, the main water transport route is the unique Unified Deep Water System (EGS) with a length of 6.5 thousand km transporting more than 70% of the total river freight and carrying main export and import cargo flows. It connects the Baltic, White, Caspian, Azov and Black seas.

However, limiting areas or "bottlenecks" of EGS do not allow to use its enormous potential to a full extent. A critical section significantly limiting the throughput is the section on the Don River from Kochetovsky Hydroelectric Complex to Aksai (3,121 km of the navigable pass, according to the EGS Map Book).

To solve this problem, the Development of Russia’s Transport System Governmental Program provides for the construction of Bagaevsky Hydroelectric Complex. Its construction is the final stage of the integrated water management plan for water resources of the Don River.