The city's thermal power plant on the Dvina is 70 years old. A press tour for regional journalists, timed to coincide with the station's anniversary, was held at the Vitebsk Thermal Power Plant

A press tour for regional journalists was held at the Vitebsk Thermal Power Plant, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the plant's commissioning.

The director of the Vitebsk CHPP branch of RUP Vitebskenergo, Aleksandr Stankovsky, and the deputy director of the station, Aleksandr Kaplevsky, introduced the media representatives to the history and present day of the most important energy facility of the regional center.

Until 1941, Vitebsk was supplied with electricity from the Belarusian State District Power Plant via 110-kilovolt power lines. The heat load was provided by individual boiler plants of enterprises and municipal institutions of the city. After the Great Patriotic War, the restoration and socio-economic development of the regional center was directly related to the construction of the Vitebsk Thermal Power Plant.

The station's birthday is considered to be December 27, 1954, when the first stage, consisting of the Stein-Müller boiler No. 1 and the BBK turbine, was put into operation.

The commissioning of the first, and then the second and third stages of the station, the construction of steam pipelines became the basis for the intensive development of a number of industrial enterprises in Vitebsk, and the stable heat supply of the city's housing and communal sector.

The thermal power plant's management gave journalists a tour of the station.

– Vitebsk CHPP, built 70 years ago to provide the city's enterprises with industrial steam and the residential sector with hot water, still reliably performs its functions today, – said Alexander Stankovsky. – In winter, up to a third of the city is heated with network water from our thermal power plant. Currently, two boiler units and one turbo unit are in operation. The generated capacity is 38 megawatts. The installed capacity is 80 megawatts.

For the economical operation of the Vitebsk CHPP, noted Alexander Stankovsky, a number of energy-saving measures have been implemented. The latest of them is equipping the draft mechanisms of boiler unit No. 5 with adjustable electric drives. An adjustable electric drive is also installed on feed pump No. 5. In total, over 500 tons of equivalent fuel have been saved at the Vitebsk CHPP this year, which increases its efficiency. The plant is economical. In winter, the fuel utilization rate reaches 85 percent.

Journalists visited the boiler room of the first stage, where the very same Stein-Müller boiler units with which the station began are located (they are currently in reserve), visited the turbine room of the second stage, as well as the main control panel and the central heat control panel. At present, turbo unit No. 2 is in operation in the turbine room and the scheduled major repairs of turbo unit No. 3 are being completed (the repairs are being carried out by employees of a specialized organization of the Belenergo State Production Association - Belenergoremnaladka OJSC).

At the central heat control panel, the station's operating mode was maintained by turbine operator Ivan Kazantsev, a young specialist and a hereditary power engineer. He said that his parents had instilled a love for this profession in him since childhood. After graduating from BNTU, he was assigned to the Vitebsk Thermal Power Plant.

– Decent salary and social package, excellent career growth prospects, a friendly team where everyone always helps each other, experienced mentors for young specialists – all this is about the Vitebsk Thermal Power Plant, – noted Ivan Kazantsev. – I have a prestigious profession. I am proud to work at a station with a rich history. It is beautiful and well-kept. And every time I go to work and return home, I see the fruits of my work and that of my colleagues. The staff of the Vitebsk Thermal Power Plant does what is necessary for the city and the people.

In total, 340 people work at the Vitebsk TPP today. Of these, 41 people are under 31 years old, and the average age of workers is 44 years. This is a friendly and close-knit team of young and experienced power engineers, thanks to whom the station reliably and uninterruptedly generates thermal and electrical energy.

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