The use of hydropower potential of the rivers of Moscow basin

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study the changes in the ways of using the energy potential of the rivers of the Moscow River basin in the XVIII-XXI centuries. Analysis of the data of the General Survey suggests that in XVIII century the energy of flowing water was used for several kinds of mills: gristmills, saw mills and fulling mills. Energy of flowing water was applied for oil mills and blacksmith hammers. Analysis of literary data shows that the number of mills reduced at the end of XIX century. Only mills built on large rivers continued to work. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries small hydroelectric power stations were built instead of mill dams, and the modern hydropower facilities in Moscow basin are small stations of local meaning only. As a result, the maps showing the location of different kinds of mills in the Moscow river basin in XVIII century were composed for the first time. These maps are unique for this territory.