The history of electricity in Russia: the emergence and development

The emergence of modern methods of using electricity was preceded by a number of discoveries in physics and engineering, scattered over time for several centuries. Science left us a dozen names involved in this epoch-making process. There are among them Russian discoverers.

The electric arc of Petrova

The history of the emergence of electricity would have developed differently, if not for the experimental physicist and diligent self-taught Vasily Petrov (1761-1834). This scientist, driven by his own little-understood curiosity, conducted many experiments. Its key achievement was the discovery of the electric arc in 1802.

Petrov proved that it can be used for practical purposes - including welding of metals, melting and lighting. At the same time, a large galvanic battery was created by the experimenter. The history of electricity development owes much to Vasily Petrov.

Candle of Yablochkov

Another Russian inventor, who contributed to the progress in energy, is Pavel Yablochkov (1847-1894). In 1875 he created a coal arc lamp. Behind it, the name "Yablochkov's candle" was fixed. For the first time the invention was demonstrated to the general public at the Paris World Exhibition. So the history of the origin of light was written. Electricity, in the sense in which we all used to understand it, was getting closer.

Lamp Yablochkov, despite the revolutionary nature of the idea, had several fatal flaws. After disconnection from the source, it went out, and it was not possible to start the candle again. Nevertheless, the history of the origin of electricity rightfully left the name of Pavel Yablochkov in his annals.

Incandescent lamp of Lodygin

The first domestic experiments connected with the city's electric lighting were conducted by Alexander Lodygin in St. Petersburg in 1873. It was he who invented the incandescent lamp. However, the attempt to introduce the novelty into mass operation proved to be unsuccessful - it failed to take away the niche of ubiquitous gas lamps. The patent for the tungsten filament was sold to a foreign company, General Electric.

Russian enthusiasts, however, did not lose their enthusiasm. Shortly before the First World War, the Society for Electrical Lighting received the right to manufacture incandescent lamps. Grandiose plans did not come about because of bloodshed, the collapse of the economy and general devastation. By 1917 incandescent lamps were only in rich estates, successful shops, etc. In general, even in two capitals, this coverage covered only a third of the buildings. To electricity, a lot of people treated like incredible luxury, and every new illuminated showcase attracted the attention of thousands of citizens.

"Power Transmission"

Perhaps the history of the appearance of electricity in Russia would have been different if at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. There were no such problems with electricity. If factories, villages or cities acquired a new source of energy, then they had to buy generators with low power. There have not yet been any state programs to finance electrification. If this was the initiative of the city, then, as a rule, funds for the novelty were allocated from the bins and the reserve fund.

The history of electricity shows that the major changes connected with electrification were achieved only after full-scale power stations appeared in them. Even then, the capacity of such enterprises was sufficient to provide energy to entire regions. The first power station in Russia appeared in 1912, and the initiator of its creation was the same as the "Society of Electric Lighting."

The place of construction of such an important infrastructure was the Moscow Province. The station was called "Power Transmission". Its founding father is engineer-technologist Robert Classon. The power station, which operates today, bears his name. At first, peat was used as fuel. The class personally chose a place near the pond (water was needed for cooling). The extraction of peat was managed by Ivan Radchenko, who also became known as a revolutionary and a member of the RSDLP.

Thanks to the "Power Transmission" the history of the use of electricity received a new bright page. For its time it was a unique experience. The energy was to be delivered to Moscow, but the distance between the city and the station was 75 kilometers. This meant that it was necessary to conduct a high-voltage line, which had no analogues in Russia yet. The situation was complicated by the fact that the country did not have legislation regulating the implementation of such projects. Cables had to pass through the territory of many noble estates. Owners of the self-made station personally bypassed aristocrats and persuaded them to support the undertaking. Despite all the difficulties, the lines managed to be carried out, and the domestic history of electricity acquired a serious precedent. Moscow got its energy.

Stations and trams

Appeared in the Tsarist times and stations of a smaller scale. The history of electricity in Russia owes a lot to the German industrialist Werner von Siemens. In 1883, he worked on the festive illumination of the Moscow Kremlin. After the first successful experience, his company (which will later become known as a global concern) created a lighting system for the Winter Palace and Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg. In 1898, a small power station appeared in the capital on the Obvodny Canal. The Belgians invested in a similar enterprise on the Fontanka embankment, and the Germans - in another one on Novgorodskaya street.

The history of electricity was limited not only to the appearance of stations. The first tram in the Russian Empire appeared in 1892 in Kiev. In St. Petersburg, this newest form of public transport in 1907, was launched by the power engineer Heinrich Graftio. Investors of the project were Germans. When the war with Germany began, they withdrew capital from Russia, and the project was frozen for a while.

The first hydropower plants

The domestic history of electricity in the tsarist period was marked by the first small hydropower plants. The earliest appeared at the Zyryanovsk mine in the Altai Mountains. Great fame hit the station in St. Petersburg on the Bolshaya Okhta river. One of its builders was the same Robert Classon. The Kislovodsk hydroelectric power plant "White Coal" served as a source of energy for 400 street lamps, tram lines and sediments on mineral waters.

By 1913 there were thousands of small hydro power plants on various Russian rivers. According to experts, their total capacity was 19 megawatts. The largest hydroelectric station was the Hindu Kush station in Turkestan (it still operates today). At the same time on the eve of the First World War there was a noticeable trend: in the central gubernias, emphasis was placed on the construction of thermal stations, and in the far province on the strength of water. The history of creating electricity for Russian cities began with a large investment of foreigners. Even the equipment for the stations was almost all foreign. For example, turbines were bought from everywhere - from Austria-Hungary to the USA.

In the period 1900-1914 biennium. The pace of Russian electrification was one of the highest in the world. At the same time, there was a noticeable bias. Electricity was supplied mainly for the industry, but the demand for household appliances remained rather low. The key problem continued to be the absence of a centralized modernization plan for the country. The movement forward was carried out by private companies, while in the bulk - foreign. The Germans and Belgians mainly financed projects in two capitals and tried not to risk their own funds in the far Russian province.

GOELRO

After coming to power after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks in 1920 adopted a plan for the electrification of the country. Its development began during the Civil War. The head of the relevant commission (GOELRO - State Commission for the Electrification of Russia) was appointed Gleb Krzhizhanovsky, who already had experience working with various energy projects. For example, he helped Robert Class with a station on peat in the Moscow province. In total, the commission that created the plan included about two hundred engineers and scientists.

Although the project was intended for the development of energy, it also affected the entire Soviet economy. As the accompanying electrification of the enterprise appeared Stalingrad Tractor Plant. A new industrial area arose in the Kuznetsk coal basin, where the development of huge deposits of resources began.

According to the GOELRO plan, 30 district-type power plants (10 HPPs and 20 TPPs) were to be built. Many of these enterprises operate today. These include the Nizhny Novgorod, Kashira, Chelyabinsk and Shaturskaya thermal power plants, as well as the Volkhov, Nizhny Novgorod and Dnieper hydroelectric power stations . Implementation of the plan led to the emergence of a new economic regionalization of the country. The history of light and electricity can not be unrelated to the development of the transport system. Thanks to GOELRO, new railways, highways and the Volga-Don Canal appeared. It was through this plan that the industrialization of the country began, and the history of electricity in Russia turned over another important page. The goals set by GOELRO were fulfilled in 1931.

Power and War

On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the total power of the electric power industry of the USSR was about 11 million kilowatts. The invasion of Germany and the destruction of a significant part of the infrastructure greatly reduced these figures. Against the backdrop of this disaster in the State Committee of Defense, construction of enterprises producing power was part of the defense contract.

With the liberation of the territories occupied by the Germans, the process of rebuilding destroyed or damaged power plants began. The most important were recognized Svirskaya, Dneprovskaya, Baksanskaya and Kegumskaya HPP, as well as Shakhtinskaya, Krivorozhskaya, Shterevskaya, Stalinogorskaya, Zuevskaya and Dubrovskaya TPPs. The provision of electricity left by the Germans with electricity was initially carried out thanks to power trains. The first such mobile station arrived in Stalingrad. By 1945, the domestic energy industry was able to reach prewar levels of output. Even a brief history of electricity shows that the path of modernization of the country was thorny and tortuous.

Further development

After the onset of peace in the USSR, construction of the world's largest TPPs and HPPs continued. The energy program was carried out in accordance with the principle of further centralization of the entire industry. By 1960, electricity generation increased 6-fold compared with 1940. By 1967, the process of creating a unified energy system that united the entire European part of the country was over. This network included 600 power plants. Their total capacity was 65 million kilowatts.

In the future, emphasis was placed on the development of infrastructure in the Asian and Far Eastern regions. This is partly due to the fact that about 4/5 of all the hydropower resources of the USSR were concentrated there. An electric symbol of the 1960s was the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station built on the Angara River . After it appeared a similar Krasnoyarsk station on the Yenisei.

Hydropower development also developed in the Far East. In 1978, the houses of Soviet citizens began to receive current, which was produced by the Zeyskaya HPP. The height of its dam is 123 meters, and the power output is 1330 megawatts. A real miracle of engineering thought in the Soviet Union was the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP. The project was implemented in a complex climate of Siberia and remoteness from large cities with the necessary industry. Many details (for example, hydro turbines) fell on the construction site across the Arctic Ocean, making a way of 10 thousand kilometers.

In the early 1980s, the fuel and energy balance of the Soviet economy changed dramatically. Nuclear power plants played an increasing role. In 1980, their share in energy production was 5%, and in 1985 - 10%. The locomotive of the industry was the Obninsk nuclear power plant. During this period, the accelerated serial construction of nuclear power plants began, but the economic crisis and the Chernobyl disaster slowed down this process.

Modernity

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a decline in investment in the electricity sector. Stations that were built, but not yet finished, were mass-preserved. In 1992, the unified grid was merged into RAO UES of Russia. This did not help to avoid a systemic crisis in a complex economy.

The second breath of the electric power industry came in the 21st century. Many Soviet construction projects were resumed. For example, in 2009, the construction of the Bureyskaya HPP, which began in 1978, was completed. Nuclear power plants are also being built: the Baltic, Beloyarsk, Leningrad, and Rostov.