Shift at an altitude of BAO
When the pre – New Year hustle and bustle reaches its peak, residential buildings are flooded with light, and festive masterpieces are created in kitchens, people in round-the-clock professions take up their New Year shifts as usual. Medical workers, rescue services and, of course, energy workers.
For energy workers, this shift is just another shift on the production schedule drawn up by the station engineer. The only difference between this shift and any other is that the evening peak in energy consumption spills over into the night, and the morning peak will only come… next year. And even then, it will be closer to noon, when the celebrating crowds head for their refrigerators, microwaves and stoves.
The power engineers themselves joke about such shifts: they left for work in 2025 and returned a year later, in 2026. There was no AyazAta, although the shift workers often exchange small gifts with each other. And the New Year’s table on the shift is sure to feature Olivier salad, other salads and manti. Provisions are mainly brought from home. For example, the shift of the Cascade energy workers at the edge of the BAO lasts several days, so they have to stock up on food – there are no shops or delis nearby. The New Year decorations here consist of beautiful Tien Shan fir trees covered with pure snow and a little New Year tinsel in the rooms. This creates the New Year mood. Everything else is strictly according to work regulations.
Murat’s New Year’s shift
For Murat Savetkanovich Rombekov, a motorist at the HPP-1 spillway, this is a familiar picture and an established daily routine: of his ten years working at AlES, he has spent six years at the Cascade, at HPP-1. He says that before that he worked ‘down below’ as a spillway motorist, and now he works right on the shore of the BAO, where the motorists’ hut is located, at an altitude of 2,510 meters above sea level.
This is his second New Year’s shift while working at the Cascade. His duties remain the same: inspecting equipment and the condition of the pipeline, raising and lowering the gates, and switching them if necessary. During the shift, which lasts several days, he is the only person on duty. The day begins traditionally – with a daily walk along a section of ‘only’ 7 km.
The route is almost magical – through snow-covered mountains, past fir trees, but it is not easy: from the edge of the Big Almaty Lake to HPP-1. It is not so easy to walk it in the ‘cold winter season’. The snow cover in December-January is several tens of centimetres thick. Your feet sink into the snow, the wind from the lake blows in your face, piercing even in sunny weather, and if there is snow and sleet, it is prickly and knocks you off your feet. And the motorist does not travel light, but with equipment, including a huge shovel.
“We have a special route sheet, which we use to reach the lake, then descend along the lake to the springs and return. I monitor six springs and check the water level. There is a slight difficulty in bypassing the pipeline during the winter, confirms Murat Savetkanovich. Once a day, I go down to HPP-1, inspect the pipe and check the compensators. If there is a problem, I call the team and we fix it. The motorists have to check whether filtration is occurring through the dam body. If filtration has increased, it means that somewhere there is flushing or water is seeping through the dam body. If muddy water flows through the springs, it means that somewhere there is erosion. Every year, we concrete the dam body with reinforcement to reduce water seepage. When we walk along the pipe, we sometimes pick up rubbish left by tourists. The entire pipeline is scratched with tourists’ names, so we have to constantly paint it and tidy it up.”
Murat Savetkanovich is even happy to be on duty on New Year’s Eve: he says he is lucky because he cannot hear the sound of firecrackers, and it is much more pleasant to be among the fir trees, in nature. His family is supportive of his New Year’s shift. He considers his workplace to be the best, and he has even improved his health here. The New Year’s noise of the city does not reach the BAO, but Almaty, flooded with festive lights, is perfectly visible from above, and it is the Almaty power engineers who provide this glow of the city.
“I feel great here at this altitude, surrounded by beautiful nature. New Year’s Eve is a gift for me, and when it snows, it’s just wonderful. Last year, my shift fell on Epiphany. We were even able to swim in the estuary. On New Year’s Eve, we traditionally went outside – there are still posts here from Kazhydromet, the Institute of Geography, the Avalanche Station, and the Emergency Services. We congratulate each other. There is no festive table as such. But everyone brings festive dishes from home – manti, pelmeni, cake, and we prepare Olivier salad ourselves, – continues Murat Savetkanovich. We look at the shining city and return to our duties. At night we can rest, but in any case, we listen to the pump working. The mandatory report on the situation remains unchanged: at 7 a.m., I report to the engineer on duty at HPP-1 on the temperature, weather conditions and lake level according to the Baltic height system (BHS – a system of normal heights, measured from zero at the Kronstadt footstock, which was created in 1707). I also make traditional reports at 3.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.”
This post is, of course, somewhat exotic. Over the years of working here, Murat Savetkanovich has studied both the flora and fauna and can determine which of the mountain dwellers have passed by: lynxes, wild boars, roe deer or foxes have visited the post.
He has had other professions in his career: he studied to be a mechanic, worked on the railway, and in the flour and grain industry. He came to Cascade unexpectedly for himself: his daughter works here. He did not think he would stay long, but he did. He says the work is interesting, the organization is good, and the salary is stable. Most importantly, the company is of great benefit to the city. This means that he is also involved in this good cause…
Medet’s responsibility
Medet Dulatuly Toleuov, the engineer on duty at Cascade HPP-1, was at the station for his first New Year’s shift. In terms of the beauty of the landscape, HPP-1 is on a par with BAO, and the steel latticework of the substation structures fits in perfectly. But technically, Almaty CHPP-1, or ‘Ozernaia’, is the most important head station of the Cascade: it draws water from the BAO and ensures the operation of all other stages of the Cascade. ‘Ozernaia’ is the highest-pressure hydroelectric power plant in Kazakhstan. Therefore, the responsibility of CHPP-1 specialists is extremely great.
Medet started his shift at 8 a.m. on 30 December. He is also the only one working on the shift. On New Year’s Eve, his table was laden with traditional dishes – manti and Olivier salad – prepared by his young wife.
“My shift is always a holiday,’ says Medet Toleuov, emphasising his attitude towards this work. “Our main task is to provide the city with electricity and drinking water, and on New Year’s Eve, it is especially important to ensure trouble-free operation and stable power. So as not to spoil the holiday for the people of Almaty. As usual, I took over the shift, made a tour of the territory, inspected the equipment (ORU-35), generators, and checked the bearings: whether they were heating up or not. I recorded all the data in the logbook, as usual. At 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., I reported which equipment was working, what the parameters of the units were, what we had in reserve, and gave the current lake level. I have at least four rounds a day. And New Year’s Eve is no reason to change anything in the regulations. So, on New Year’s Eve, it was business as usual.
As Medet explained, his job is to monitor the lake level to prevent overflow and control the generator’s power. In other words, he is responsible for monitoring the parameters of the instruments – the main reactive power, the main active power, the temperature, and the line load. And it is to him that motorist Murat Rombekov regularly reports on the situation on the lake, and he in turn reports to his superiors.
Medet is a native of Karakalpakstan and moved to Kazakhstan, his historical homeland. This was a very important event for him. He chose a technical speciality, so he enrolled in and successfully graduated from Satpayev Polytechnic University, majoring in electrical power engineering.
“Everyone in my family is a teacher, and I decided that I needed a change,’ the young specialist explained his choice of profession. “My parents supported me in my choice. After university, I got a job as a 4th-grade electrician at TPP-2, where I worked for 6 years. And then I was transferred to Cascade. For the first 3-4 months, it was a little scary at night because of the sound of mountain water, but then I got used to it. Reports on the situation are made at set times. In emergency situations, we report the situation to the shift supervisor. Our work is important and very responsible. If something happens in the power system, neither CHPP-1 nor CHPP-2 will start without Cascade – that’s how it works. I really enjoy working at AlES, I like that the company supports those who want to learn and improve their qualifications.
When asked if he made a wish on New Year’s Eve, Medet answered honestly: ‘I make a wish every time I read the Koran.’ But he did share his wishes with his colleagues: accident-free work, stable power, family comfort and professional growth!
Alexander Sergeyevich’s New Year’s tradition
The current New Year’s shift is not the first for Alexander Sergeyevich Linnik, shift supervisor at the Cascade Hydroelectric Power Plant. One could even say that this is a familiar task for him. It has almost become a tradition over his 22 years of working at the Cascade. Alexander Linnik comes from a long line of power engineers: his father worked in the power industry his entire life and worked at the Cascade HPP from 1996 to 2021.
Alexander did not come to the Cascade right away. From 1999 to 2003, while a student at Satpayev KazNTU, he worked at a copper smelter in Balkhash, in the electrolysis shop. It was only after graduating from university in 2003 that he got a job at HPP-1. Over the years, he mastered his speciality and settled in, and then became the shift supervisor at the Cascade HPP.
He is the specialist to whom all information about the situation at the Cascade facilities flows. He took over the shift on 31 December at 8 p.m., when most of the townspeople were already looking forward to the holiday, fireworks, and fun…
“I often found myself on duty on New Year’s Eve,’ says Alexander Sergeyevich. “During the current shift, including the guards at four posts, there were 12 people on duty: the engineer on duty, the person on duty at HPP-1, the person on duty at the lake, and two people on duty at the hydroelectric complexes (HEC-5 and HEC-7). In addition, the driver on duty and the engineer on duty at DI-7 make a round, inspect the equipment at the stations, and then the video surveillance operator and security guards. We monitor the equipment to ensure that everything is in working order, check the condition of the equipment according to the log entries, and familiarize ourselves with the layout of the existing equipment. Those on duty at the facilities report in the afternoon at approximately 4 p.m., transmitting the lake level, filtration and air temperature at HPP-1 and on the lake. At midnight, we transmit mail to the AlES control room, load and currents at the stations.
Despite it being winter, we must monitor the lake level, according to which we carry the specified load. We have a specific schedule for water load and electricity generation. In addition, we deliver waste water to Gorvodokanal, which is treated in reservoirs and settling tanks. We have an electronic gauge, which is constantly monitored by the duty officer at BAO, who then passes the information on to us. The PTO engineer, who is responsible for loads, draws up daily schedules. Despite the fact that electricity consumption may increase on New Year’s Eve, the Cascade generates energy according to schedule.
The shift supervisor also talked about the specifics of the Cascade’s work in winter. Like all hydroelectric facilities, they operate on water and depend on the season and weather conditions.
“We try to bring the water level to its maximum in the summer, and in the winter we use it up, so it doesn’t rise anymore,” Alexander Sergeyevich shares the specifics of the HPP’s work. “Right now, the lake’s inflow is low. When the lake is covered with a thick layer of ice, a device called a flow generator is installed there. It floats around the mark and breaks the ice so that the level of the lake under the ice can be seen. As for the holiday, we also get to enjoy part of the show: if you look down from our vantage point towards the city, you can see firecrackers and fireworks… They really lift the mood… Well, in the New Year, I wish everyone career growth!
Yernur’s growth cascade: from mechanic to engineer
Together with Alexander Linnik, Yernur Akhmetuly, an engineer responsible for the operation of power plant equipment, was also on duty at the control panel. This is the second time the young specialist has been on duty on New Year’s Eve. Surely, like many young people, he would like to immerse himself in the festive atmosphere of the New Year, but duty, love for his profession and responsibility are stronger.
“I have two older brothers and a sister who work in the energy sector,” says Yernur. “So my choice of profession was almost obvious: after 9th grade, I enrolled in an energy college, then at Almaty University of Energy and Communications. I chose Cascade for many reasons: it is a very beautiful place with an amazing heroic history. It is also an ecologically clean place. Hydroelectric power plants are clean energy. I worked as a simple mechanic for two years, then became an engineer at HPP-1. The New Year’s shift was no different from any other: during this shift, we visited all the lower stations, starting with HPP-2. And although New Year’s is a special atmosphere, a holiday, since we are at work, the main focus is on business. I wish my colleagues on the New Year’s shift and all power engineers’ smooth, accident-free work, success in all their endeavors, prosperity and good health!
Andrey, river manager
My acquaintance with another member of the New Year’s shift, Andrey Anatolyevich Kononov, a motorist at the HPP 5-8a spillway, began almost with an aphorism. ‘New Year’s Eve is a normal working day,’ he said in all seriousness. This sums up his attitude towards both his profession and the Cascade.
“My wife works here, and her parents and grandparents used to work here too. I’m a multi-channel telephone technician by trade, but I lived here in the village and was invited to work here,” says Andrei. “My New Year’s shift lasted from 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. the next day. We did our rounds, then stood guard indoors. In my 10 years of work, this is the third time I’ve been on New Year’s Eve duty. It’s just like any other shift, the only difference being that you get to watch the fireworks.
Otherwise, it’s business as usual: you have to monitor the accuracy, the quantity and the quality of the water. If the water is very dirty, then, in agreement with the shift supervisor, it is discharged into the riverbed.
“But mostly, dirty water occurs in the spring when the glaciers melt. Since the water, in addition to the hydroelectric power station, enters the city’s drinking water system,” Andrey explains his tasks. “In winter, rivers can freeze over. For example, the Prokhodnaya River freezes very often. Then we break it up with icebreakers and clear the grates of ice so that the water can flow into the pressure pipes and then through the sedimentation tank to the hydroelectric power station.
And when there is a sharp cold snap, sediment and slush clog the grates on the Almatinka River, and we have to clean everything. The raw water comes from the BAO, enters the pipeline and then goes to HPP-1 through a tunnel that was built in the 1950s inside the mountain. Then it goes to the throttle valve and further to HPP-2. At the bottom, there is a structure into which water from the Almatinka, Prokhodnaya and Kazachka rivers flows. Each of our structures is unique and special in its own way; no two structures or pressure basins are the same.
Andrey’s main place of work is the rivers that feed the stations, specially built canals, and pressure basins into which water can be discharged. The length of these waterways from BAO to the Orbita microdistrict is about 20 km. The lowest HPP-11 is located on the Almatinka River, above Al-Farabi, 1.5 km from the city microdistrict. Andrey is responsible for the upper reaches.
“There are pressure basins into which water will flow, but we can use certain valves to shut off the pressure pipeline and let the water flow through the idle discharge, bypassing the station, or shut off the valve, and the water will not flow,’ Andrey shares the specifics of his work. “The Cascade motorists are divided into upper and lower ones. I come on duty, go upstairs, check all the stations and facilities, and go down to the departure point twice a day. That’s 22 km on foot. The tour lasts an average of 3.5-4 hours. HPP-7 does not differ much from other hydroelectric power plants in terms of its characteristics. If work is being carried out in the machine room of HPP-7, then higher up, where the pressure basin is located, the water is shut off and flows through a bypass channel past HPP-7. At HPP-1 and HPP-2, where there are several units, the water flow can be regulated, i.e. water access can be restricted for each unit.
The specialist also explained the characteristics of water and its levels in an accessible way. If the level is 20 cm lower, this is a shortfall, and then the lower stations are limited in their electricity production. Therefore, motorists need to find out what is happening: whether earthworks are being carried out at the top, whether someone has damaged the water canal, or whether the grates are clogged with leaves. The workshop manager monitors all these situations and informs the motorist that the water level is falling. The motorist’s tools are gloves and a raincoat in case of rain.
“Every pressure basin has everything you need: shovels, rakes, crowbars, slag, buckets. We assess the situation and fix the problems ourselves,‘ explains Andrey. ’The structures have special flood control gates. Floods usually come from the upper part of the river. In such a situation, we go to the structure and close the gates. If we manage to do so in time, we release the pressure into the Almatinka River; if not, we block the three gates and save the entire structure.
I haven’t seen a strong mudslide, but there was heavy flooding five years ago on the Prokhodnoy River, when the water flow was about 6 m3/sec. There was a lot of overflow. But we managed. My work is interesting in itself, every day is something new. And not only at work. For example, near HPP-5, during a patrol, I saw jackals. But we have spray cans, repellents for dogs and animals. Fortunately, they were not needed.
Well, on New Year’s Eve, including this one, which is a working day, I always make wishes, and they come true. As for my colleagues, I wish them the most important thing – accident-free work and, of course, good health!