Caption

Hydroelectric power. View of the Yenisey River seen from the dam of the Krasnoyarsk power station. At right are transformers that send electricity to a distribution grid. The power station is part of the Krasnoyarsk Dam built in 1956-72. The dam wall is 124 metres tall and 1065 metres wide and holds back a reservoir of over 70 cubic kilometres. This water is released through giant conduits and turn the blades of the turbines. At full capacity the power station produces about 6 GW (gigawatts) of energy, equivalent to a large coal-fired power station. Electricity from the power station is fed to local industries including an aluminium smelting plant. The dam is 30km upstream from the city of Krasnoyarsk in Russia.