The G. M. Krzhizhanovsky Kashira Power Plant opened

June 4, 1922 took place the grand opening of the G. M. Krzhizhanovsky Kashira Power Plant.

In mid-1918, when Baku stopped the supply of oil to the Moscow industrial region, the lights went out not only in district towns, but also in Moscow. The impending catastrophe prompted the Soviet government to find ways to solve the problem. Thus occurred the idea of building a power plant in the central part of Russia on the basis of the developments of a coal basin situated near Moscow, expressed by G. M. Krzhizhanovsky back in 1915.

In autumn 1918 the head of the group charged with the design of the Kashira SDPP, M. K. Polivanov, and his assistants went to Kashira for inspection of construction and in the end opted for the surroundings of the Turnovo village. Coal was delivered by the nearby railway, while the River Oka provided the necessary amount of water. 

There was created a State Commission on the Kashira plant construction chaired by A. V. Winter. M. K. Polivanov was appointed head of design, A. E. Sergeev was appointed architect, George Dmitrievich Tsyurupa - chief engineer. March 1, 1919 the completed technical project was approved, and March 25 the Labor and Defense Council authorized the construction of the Kashira SDPP with the capacity of 12 MW using suburban lignite. In April, first builders came to the site.

Under the resolution of the Council of Defence of April 14, 1919 the construction of the Kashira district power station was declared a matter of national importance having defense implications. By 1920 - in record time - the construction was completed. In February 1920, by the resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR was established the State Commission for Electrification of Russia, under the chairmanship of G. M. Krzhizhanovsky. According to the GOELRO plan developed by the commission, the Kashira SDPP became the first-born of this grand plan. The power plant was scheduled for launch 5 December 1921, but for different reasons, the launch took place only April 30, 1922.

Grand opening of the station was held June 4, 1922. The introduction into service of the Kashira Power Plant, along with the Shatura power station and the Volkhov hydroelectric power station, marked the beginning of the technical reconstruction of the industry in Russia. In 1926 the chief engineer of the Kashira SDPP, G. D. Tsyurupa, was transferred to Moscow. The first directors of the stations were I. G. Tikhomirov and A. M. Kontorshchikov. Then, in 1931, V. V. Vakhrushev – future director of Mosenergo, the People's Commissar of local industry, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the USSR People's Commissar of the coal industry - was appointed director of the plant. In 1936 at the head of the plant was M. G. Pervukhin. Three years later, the staff of the Kashira Power Plant was awarded the Order of Lenin, and a year later Pervukhin became President of the Council of People's Commissars.

During the Great Patriotic War the Kashira power plant had been led by Arkady I. Tarakanov. A month after the war outbreak, the first German bombs were dropped to the station. The damage was eliminated immediately, under fire, and power plant continued to produce electricity. Then the Kashira power engineering specialists were fulfilling the special government order – they produced presses to test the legendary "Katyusha", anti-tank and anti-infantry "hedgehogs", and then the shells for the same "Katyusha". April 1, 1945 the staff of the power plant was awarded the Order of Red Banner of Labor.

In 1959, the Kashira SDPP was named after Gleb Maksimilianovich Krzhyzhanovsky. The postwar history of the Kashira Power Plant awarded with the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner of Labor was the history of rapid technological development, building of capacity, large-scale arrangement of the social sphere. In subsequent years, the power plant capacities increased with the launch of new turbines. Kashira Power Plant was the largest thermal power plant in the USSR, the most economical and reliable in "Mosenergo".

In 1994 the "Mosenergo" went public. The Kashira Power Station was transformed into a branch of "Mosenergo". In 2005 the station became part of the wholesale generating company OGK-1.

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Based on the materials of the N. K. Krupskaya Moscow Regional State Research Library