Large-Scale Energy Sector Construction in the Far East of the USSR in the Mid-1960s-1980s

The article examines the historical experience of large-scale energy sector construction in the Far East of the USSR in the mid-1960s-1980s. The relevance of the research topic is due to the fact that the Russian government has now developed a new model of the economic development of the Far East, which provides for the modernization of the regional electric power industry. An analysis of the Soviet experience of large-scale energy sector construction makes it possible to identify the difficulties of its implementation in the Far East, to determine the specifics of creating an energy infrastructure, on which the modern regional electric power industry is mainly based. The source of the research is unpublished sources found in the funds of federal and regional archives. The methodological basis of the research is traditional historical methods, as well as the method of systems analysis, which allows considering energy construction in the Far East as an element of state policy for the accelerated development of the productive forces of the region. The structure of the article is based on the problem-chronological principle. The first part reveals the problems of design and construction of the Zeyskaya HPP, the first hydroelectric power plant in the Far East. Its construction took 16 years; it cost the state almost 400 million rubles. The second part of the article deals with the construction of the Primorskaya TPP and the Vladivostok TPP-2, two powerful thermal power plants. Due to the unpreparedness of the Dalenergostroy trust, the construction of these facilities, especially the Primorskaya TPP, was delayed for more than 20 years. In general, the powerful power plants were constructed in the region with significant difficulties associated with the harsh natural and climatic conditions, the poorly developed construction industry, limited labor, material, and technical resources. The author comes to the conclusion that the energy sector construction, despite all the difficulties of its implementation in the regions of the Far East, made it possible to include the easternmost part of the country in the unified energy system of the USSR. The Far Eastern electric power industry reached a qualitatively new level of development, which contributed to the accelerated economic growth of the region, the modernization of industry and transport, and an improvement in the quality of life of the Far Easterners. Created in the mid-1960s-1980s, the electric power infrastructure of the Far East remains the basis of its energy supply to this day.

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