Ekibastuz GRES-2 Power Station

The GRES-2 Power Station (or Power Station Ekibastuz) is a coal-fueled power generating station in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan. GRES-2, built in 1987, has installed capacity of 1,000 MWe and has the world's tallest flue gas stack at 419.7 metres (1,377 ft) high. The chimney is about 38 metres (125 ft) taller than the Inco Superstack in Sudbury, Canada. Locals refer to it as "the Cigarette Lighter". It is the tallest chimney ever built.

The power station is the start of the Powerline Ekibastuz–Kokshetau and uses a transmission voltage of 1,150 kVAC, the highest transmission voltage in the world. The extension of this line to Chelyabinsk in Russia is also designed for 1,150 kV, but it currently operates at only 500 kV. About 3/4 of the energy produced by GRES-2 is exported to Russia.

Fifty percent of GRES-2 shares are owned by Inter RAO UES, and 50% by Kazakhstan's government.

Individual units

The planned capacity of 4,000 MWe is to be provided by eight equal units, 500 MWe each.

• Unit 1 was launched into service in December, 1990.
• Unit 2 was launched into service in December, 1993.
• Construction of Unit 3 was started 1990 but later stopped.

2006 fire

On 30 May 2006, the chimney of the GRES-2 Power Station caught fire as flames and smoke could be seen pouring out of the top of the building. There were no reports of injuries and there was no word on the cause of the blaze. Firemen at the scene said all those inside the building had been evacuated.

See also

• Ekibastuz GRES-1
• List of chimneys
• List of towers
• List of tallest freestanding structures in the world
• Unfinished building
• List of tallest buildings and structures in the world

External links

• Smoke-stack diagrams
• GRES-2 official website
• GRES-2 Chimney at Structurae