Nornickel has carried out a significant set of measures aimed at ensuring the safe operation of buildings and structures on permafrost soils. To achieve this goal, the Company operates a system for monitoring the technical condition of buildings and structures, has established a background permafrost monitoring system, and has launched a center of excellence in the field of engineering geocryology based at Fedorovsky Polar State University.
Distribution of permafrost soils
Permafrost soils in Russia cover about 11 million square kilometers, which accounts for nearly 65% of the country’s total area.
The Company’s production and energy assets located at the Norilsk industrial site are situated within the permafrost zone. Permafrost conditions in the Norilsk industrial region are extremely heterogeneous: the thickness of permafrost ranges from 5 to 500 meters or more, and the average annual temperature of the ground varies widely (from minus 5 to plus 2 degrees Celsius). An increase in air temperature caused by climate or other changes leads to a rise in permafrost temperatures, which may affect the stability of the Company’s infrastructure.
Nornickel continuously monitors permafrost degradation processes and ensures infrastructure stability by deploying a comprehensive monitoring system covering two interconnected areas: geotechnical monitoring and background permafrost monitoring.
Geotechnical monitoring system
The main objective of the system is to monitor the technical condition of foundations, load-bearing structures, and permafrost soils of buildings and structures, as well as to promptly identify operational risks. The system has been implemented by the Company using its own resources since 2020.
Background permafrost monitoring system
The primary focus of this system is to assess permafrost degradation in the natural landscapes of the Norilsk industrial region. The system has been implemented by the Company since 2023 in cooperation with Fedorovsky Polar State University.
All information obtained during monitoring is stored and processed in a unified information and diagnostic system deployed at the Norilsk industrial site (hereinafter referred to as the Information and Diagnostic System). This enables the Company’s management to use consolidated data for decision-making. At present, the Information and Diagnostic System is used at 17 of the Company’s enterprises, with approximately 800 employees among its users.
The implementation of monitoring systems is carried out by the Buildings and Structures Monitoring Center and the Diagnostics Department.
Geotechnical Monitoring System
Within the framework of the system, processes have been established for both automated and manual monitoring of the condition of foundations, load-bearing structures, and permafrost soils of the Company’s key production and infrastructure facilities.
The implementation of the system was carried out in stages:
Stage 1. Large-scale drilling operations to restore the network of observation thermometric wells. At this stage, more than 500 new wells were drilled.
Stage 2. Comprehensive inspections of foundations and structural elements, preparation of a list of defects, identification of deviations from design parameters, and updating of geotechnical monitoring programs for the facilities.
Stage 3. Design, construction, installation, and commissioning works to equip monitoring facilities with automated measurement instruments of various types, with data transmission to the Information and Diagnostic System. Currently, about 2,000 automated measuring devices are in operation at 214 facilities.
Stage 4. Implementation of a system for data collection, transmission, storage, processing, and analysis based on the Information and Diagnostic System. The system enables specialists at the monitoring center to ensure safety control of buildings and structures of the Polar Division in real time from a dispatch center, as well as to process and analyze historical data on facilities (engineering surveys, design solutions, inspection results, and monitoring data).
Stage 5. Based on engineering survey data and geotechnical monitoring results, mathematical models are developed to describe the thermal and mechanical interaction between engineering structures and permafrost soils. The results obtained demonstrate that the established geotechnical monitoring system is not only an operational control tool, but also a necessary foundation for long-term forecasting.
Stage 6. Testing of a satellite monitoring system using the COSMO-SkyMed satellite constellation to assess the magnitude of vertical displacements at industrial sites.
The experience of PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel in creating and operating a comprehensive automated monitoring system for buildings and structures on permafrost soils demonstrates the transformational potential of integrating sensors, a digital platform, and modeling to ensure infrastructure resilience in the Arctic and to assess the impact of climate on permafrost.
The project Buildings and Structures Monitoring System has been repeatedly recognized by the expert community as a breakthrough solution that uses advanced technologies and has the potential to scale this experience across the entire Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.
Project Awards
Laureate of the Comnews Awards 2022 in the category Best Digital Solution in Industrial Safety;
Winner of the Global CIO Project of the Year competition in the category Best IT Project of the Ural, Siberian, and Far Eastern Federal Districts;
Silver award winner of MINEX 2022 in the category Technical Innovations for Mining and Metallurgical Companies;
Laureate of the 10th International Professional Competition of the National Association of Surveyors and Designers for the best project of 2023 in the category Best Project in the Field of Engineering Surveys, Including Methodological and Technological Work (Implemented);
Winner of the national Responsible Business Leadership award in the category For Contribution to the Achievement of National Goals and Objectives of the Climate Agenda;
Laureate of the 2nd National Information Technology Award Priority: Digit 2024 in the category Digital Transformation.
Background Permafrost Monitoring System
The system is being deployed in cooperation with Fedorovsky Polar State University in the following sequence:
Stage 1. Development of a scientific and methodological approach to organizing background monitoring, and selection of permafrost test sites for detailed studies.
Stage 2. Drilling operations and laboratory testing of soils at the selected permafrost test sites.
Stage 3. Equipping the test sites with measurement instruments.
Stage 4. Collection and storage of information on the server of Polar State University and in Nornickel’s Information and Diagnostic System.
Stage 5. Creation of three-dimensional models of the test sites.
Stage 6. Forecasting changes in the temperature regime for the period up to 2050.
Location of Background Monitoring Test Sites and Wells
At the selected test sites, monitoring of the thermal state of soils is carried out, and the risk of hazardous cryogenic processes is tracked using geophysical and geodetic methods. For the territory of the Norilsk industrial region, a landscape map has been developed, a database has been created containing information on the composition and properties of soils, vegetation cover, and soil temperatures, and digital geotemperature maps have been produced for 2024 and 2050.
Project Awards
Laureate of the Vladimir Vernadsky National Environmental Award in the category Science for Sustainable Development;
Second place in the international competition of the National Association of Designers and Surveyors for the best project in the category Best Project in the Field of Engineering Surveys, Including Methodological and Technological Work;
Winner of the federal corporate innovation award GenerationS Innovation Award in the category Cooperation Between Science and Business;
Winner of the international competition Green Eurasia 2024 in the category Monitoring and Forecasting of Climate Change;
Second place in the international competition Green Eurasia 2025 in the category Climate Monitoring and Management of Climate-Active Substances.