The Prime Minister visited the turbine room where he reviewed the progress of repair work, and attended the launching ceremony of Unit 6 which was damaged in the summer 2009 accident.
Mr Putin and Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin flew over the territory by helicopter and were shown the power plant's dam, reservoir and spillway.
The Prime Minister also visited the plant's turbine room, where RusHydro head Yevgeny Dod updated him on the progress of the repair work at the plant. Mr Putin asked him when the units would be ready for start-up. Mr Dod said that by the end of this year, after the launch of Units 5 and 6, and then 3 and 4, the plant's capacity would be 2,500 MWt. He also said the plant would be fully restored by 2014.
The Prime Minister also took part in the launching ceremony of Unit 6 and pressed the ceremonial red start button. "I hope electricity tariffs in the power industry will decrease due to the increased capacity available to the grid," he said.
Mr Putin also watched a video presentation about the history of the Sayano-Shushenskaya power plant, from its construction in the 1960s through the tragedy in August 2009 that killed 75 people.