Лепельская ГЭС, Hydroelectric power station in Liepieĺ, Belarus.
The Liepieĺ Hydroelectric Power Station stands on the Ulla River, its yellow main building with two large arched windows beside a row of concrete piers holding a red beam and three sluice gates. Two vertical-shaft Francis turbines by Voith, installed in the 1950s, remain in service. The dam raised the river by 3.7 metres, forming the Lepiel Reservoir.
Construction began in 1958 on the Ulla River, where a dam raised the water level by 3.7 metres and formed Lake Lepel, up to 33.7 metres deep. The plant was commissioned that year but stopped generating in the early 1970s and was abandoned. Reconstruction started in 2001, and it was recommissioned on 18 October 2003.
The station is named in Belarusian as Лепельская ГЭС and stands on the Ula, whose damming raised the water level by 3.7 metres to form the Lepiel reservoir. Its two Francis shaft turbines by Voith, installed in the 1950s, were judged sound and kept during the 2001 reconstruction. Today it supplies about half of Lepiel's electricity.
The station stands on the Ula River in Liepieĺ, and the sluice gates and arched windows of the yellow main building are visible from the bank. Visits are arranged in advance, and safety restrictions apply inside the working plant.
The dam raised the Ula's water level by 3.7 metres, forming Liepieĺ Reservoir with a maximum depth of 33.7 metres. The two shaft turbines with vertical shafts, of the Francis type made by Voith and installed in the 1950s, were found still serviceable during the 2001 reconstruction and kept in use.
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