Taking care of the environment: DTEK power engineers launched a dredger on the Burshtyn water reservoir
The 26-meter-long dredger with the capacity of 1,200 m3 will operate in the water reservoir of DTEK Burshtynska TPP. A team of power engineers who received relevant training on operating this equipment has already assembled the structure and is testing it. The water reservoir will get a second chance: it will be cleaned from algae and sludge which will also have a positive impact on the environment in the region.
Shore cutting, sand and clay washed ashore by underground waters, benthal deposits and sludge are a real disaster for water bodies. All these adverse factors lead to silting, spread of harmful algae, and increased water temperature. Fish suffer the most damage caused by these processes.
“As sludge gradually accumulates in water, its oxygen saturation from natural plant sources reduces. This factor leads to the spread of harmful greenery such as blue-green algae. It could lead to the death of all live organisms present in the water reservoir. This problem is relevant not only for our water reservoir but also for many other ponds, lakes, and rivers,” comments Petro Savka, head of the environmental protection department of DTEK Burshtynska TPP.
A dredger that has been recently put in operation will help Burshtyn power engineers prevent the water reservoir silting. This is a technical vessel equipped with a powerful pump used to remove sludge from the water reservoir bottom.
“DTEK Energy is a responsible and reliable company that makes its contribution to the protection of the environment of the region. A dredger assembled at the Burshtyn water reservoir will clean the water body from sludge. Its power pump will lift benthal deposits. First, it will fluff the soil using a special cutter and then suck it with a water stream. This substance will be delivered to a suction pipe. Then, it will be pumped into a discharge pipeline. After traveling through a long shore discharge pipe connecting the dredger with the bank, the sludge collected from the reservoir bottom will be discharged in a special area where it will dry up and become soil again. The dredger will clean the water reservoir from harmful deposits without draining it which means that no threat is posed to flora and fauna,” says Lyubomur Dmyterko, head of the mechanic service of DTEK Burshtynska TPP.
The dredger pump has capacity of 1,200 cubic meters. Considering that the Burshtyn water reservoir contains about 50 million cubic meters of water, the device working around the clock for five years will be able to sift all the water and remove all harmful slug from the water reservoir.
The Burshtyn water reservoir is the wetland of international importance protected under the Ramsar Convention. This is why its cleaning using a dredger makes an important contribution to the environmental protection not only of Ukraine but also the world.
In July of this year, once this contract was signed, the CMU and the Ministry of Energy initiated a dialogue to search for an integrated solution that would guarantee a stable market for miners on one hand and steady coal supply to thermal power plants on the other hand. An inter-agency group was set up for this purpose. The efforts of this group resulted in an idea of establishing a vertically integrated company on the basis of Centrenergo PJSC and state-operated coal mining companies. The parties agreed to terminate the lease of Dobropolyeugol mines to let them join the newly created company.
“The integration of Dobropolyeugol mines into Centrenergo guarantees a permanent market for coal produced by miners which means that they will have jobs. And this is the most important thing. Over 10 years, DTEK has invested over USD 400 million in the development of Dobropolyeugol mines and implemented a range of important technological projects that facilitated that business’s growth. Thanks to these efforts, the mines can supply 4 million tons of coal to Centrenergo TPPs annually,” emphasized Dmytro Sakharuk, CEO of DTEK Energy.