On August 13, 2004, the Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov signed a decree that extends state protection to more than one hundred architectural ensembles, ancient monuments, and sculpture art pieces to preserve them for the future and set rules for their proper use. All these monuments are considered a local national heritage that will be included in the Single State Register. Among them— GES-1 named after P. G. Smidovich

This power station (earlier named MoGES, or Moscow City Electric Power Station) is the oldest power station in Russia. It was put into operation on November 28, 1897, by the order emperor Alexander III. The building of the station was designed by a famous Russian architect Ivan Zholtovsky. MoGES was the first Moscow power station that provided power for municipal lighting, transportation and industrial facilities. This power station set the start for the Moscow power system.

As of today, installed capacity of the power station is 72,7 MWt-h. GES-1 provides heat and electricity to the Central district of Moscow including Kremlin, State Duma, as well as Staraya and Lubyanka squares. GES-1 is a most clean (from the ecological point of view) power station of AO MOSENERGO. It runs on gas as a main and back-up fuel. The power station has a unique Russia-made boiler that is a best unit in its class. It is much more efficient than similar foreign units by environmental standards, while its productivity is 1.5x higher. In recent years, 90% of the electric equipment at the power station has been replaced with a newer one. A unique water treatment unit, new advanced turbine generators have been installed. All these innovations helped to considerably improve the production chain. In 2004, GES-1 plans to put into operation a new 12 MWt turbine (no. 29).

The building of GES-1 at Raushskaya Embankment has been justly declared part of the national heritage. The history of the power station is closely linked to the Russian history. GES-1 witnessed two revolutions, survived two world wars, fires and floods. The last big flood occurred in early XX century. In order to memorize this episode, they put a memorial tablet at the entrance with the inscription: “The level of spring waters. April 12, 1908.”

The status of the national monument means that a special document will be issued for the station’s building and a memorial tablet will be put on the building. Under the new status, AO MOSENERGO will be obligated to coordinate all changes regarding GES-1 with the Moscow Main Department for Monument Protection.