Krasnoyarsk Reservoir . It is an artificial reservoir created on the Yenisei River during the construction of the Kransnoyarsk hydroelectric power station. It is one of the largest reservoirs in the world, the second in Russia after the Bratsk reservoir.
Location
The reservoir begins at the level of the city of Abakan, at the mouth of the Abakan River in the Yenisei, and ends at the dam of the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station. This distance in a straight line is about 250 km, however the total length of the reservoir is considerably larger, 388 km. The maximum width reaches 15 km. The water is 243 m high.
Geography
Many rivers flow into the reservoir . On the right bank: the Tubá, the Sisim and the Syda river; on the left, the Biriusa. Several gulfs have formed in the places where these rivers flowed. The largest towns located on the banks of the reservoir are Ust-Abakan, Krasnoturansk (in the Syda Gulf) and Novosiolovo.
There are no bridges between the two banks of the reservoir, however there are ferries, the main one connecting Novosiolovo and Bellyk. When the reservoir was filled, one of the first Russian settlements on Siberian territory populated by Khakassian tribes, Abakanski ostrog, near modern Krasnoturansk, was flooded.
The Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Dam is a 124 meter high concrete gravity dam located on the Yenisei River about 30 km upstream of Krasnoyarsk in Divnogorsk, Russia. It was built between 1956 and 1972 and provides 6,000 MW of power , mostly used as a supply for the KrAZ (Krasnoyarsky Aluminievyy Zavod), Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Power Plant. Both the aluminum and power plants are controlled by the RUSAL company.
As a result of the dam, the Krasnoyarskoye Reservoir was created. This reservoir, also known as Krasnoyarskoye More (“Krasnoyarsk Sea”), has an area of 2,130 square kilometers and a volume of 73.3 cubic kilometers. It is 388 kilometers long and 15 km wide at its widest point, with an average depth of 36.6 meters, and a depth of 105 meters near the dam.
The Krasnoyarsk dam has profoundly affected the local climate. Before it was built, the Yenisei in that area was ice-free about 196 days a year. It is now ice-free all year round, up to 300-400 km downstream. The huge amount of water stored in the Krasnoyarskoye Reservoir makes the local climate milder and more humid. The dam is equipped with an inclined plane channel to allow the passage of ships. It is considered to be a symbolic monument of Krasnoyarsk, it is depicted on the 10-ruble bill.
