Ostrov
Ostrov (Island) was so named because it is on a prominent mound in the flat Moskva-River valley. From here Ivan the Terrible and Alexei Mikhailovich enjoyed hunting expeditions and pilgrimages to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery on the opposite bank. Catherine II presented Ostrov to Count Alexey Orlov who planted gardens, laid out the park in the English manner, and founded a stud farm in which the famous Orlov Trotter, Rysak, was bred.
This picture I took using telephoto lenses and tripod from the hill, nearby the beautiful tent-roof church of Transfiguration at Ostrov village. The sky was hazy, the distance to this plant and famous monastery nearby (you will see in my next picture) was pretty far, about 5 km, but the shapes of the buildings looked pretty sharp and I took several shots...
Looking on these huge power plants in and out of Moscow city, many of my clients (especially from US), ask an exact the same question: "Is this a nuclear plant?" As usual, I smile and say: "No, this is not. It is the steam plant, which provide the heat and hot water to our apartments".
Here, in Russia (and former Soviet republics, now independent states, as like Ukraine, Belorussia, Moldova and etc), we are using the central heating system to provide the heat and hot water to apartment and office buildings, factories and plants.
Central Heating means heating from a central source. Most modern central heating systems use water as the medium to get heat from the central source (boiler) to all the areas to be heated. The correct term for a boiler is a Heat generator because the water is not "boiled", it peaks at 82-90°C. In addition a lot of modern systems are pressurized. A centrally heated houses normally are cheaper to run than any other form of heating.
After the revolution of 1917 all energy companies were nationalized and proposals for further development of the Moscow power sector were published. These proposals became the basis of the GOELRO plan - a unique programme for the power system development of the whole country. This plan implementation ensured the national economy’s industrialization. In the Moscow region the GOELRO plan provided for constructing several big heat power plants, which at the beginning were supplied by coal and later by gas. As a result the Soviet Union became the leading world power.
On this picture you can see TETz-22 (the heat power plant # 22), which is the branch of MosEnergo company, one of the main energy companies in Moscow and Moscow Region and oldest in the country. Nowadays, this power plant is the biggest in World plant by total volume of heat and power output, which provides the heat and electricity for more then 1,5 million people and 150 factories in Moscow and Moscow Region. It was built in 1960 and modernized for last 40 years many times. Nowadays it is ecologically safe, they use a lot of special filters to reduce pollution.
Heat plant, power plant, central heating
Note: These Moscow Photos are to help you familiarize yourself with Moscow's Sightseeing and my services. The photos in my albums are protected by international copyright law. You may keep my photos in your personal albums or, you may use these images as personal wallpaper on your computer, but, they are not for distribution (commercial or non-profit). If you would like to buy a specific photo, feel free to make your request via E-mail. I do hope you enjoy my work as photographer. Many of these photos were taken during excursions with my clients. You can find my pictures in Internet under nickname "ArtLook" (short from Arthur Lookyanov) at the follow websites:
Moscow, Russia 
Contact Info: Arthur Lookyanov