Investments and Innovations
Results of Investment Activity
In 1999, investments in capital assets across the RAO UES of
Russia Group amounted to 30.1 billion rubles, as against 24.3 billion rubles for the
preceding year. However, when adjusted for inflation, real investment in comparable prices
was actually down by six per cent year on year.
Commissioning turbine capacity. At Holding
Company sites, 836,500 kW of turbine capacity was commissioned, of which 41 per cent was
achieved by means of re-equipping and reconstructing operational generating stations.
Among the capacity commissioned, it is worth singling out the second power unit at the
Ioshkar-Ola Combined Heat & Power Plant No. 2, with a capacity of 115,000 kW, and the
second power unit at the Komsomolsk Combined Heat & Power Plant No. 3, with a capacity
of 180,000 kW. These completions of these projects now makes it possible to solve the
problem of reliable supplies of electricity and heat energy for major industrial centres
in Russia. The commissioning of the first two units, with an overall capacity of 8,000 kW,
at the Verkhne-Mutnovsk geothermal generating station on Kamchatkka, together with the
Mutnovsk geothermal station (currently under construction) will make it possible to reduce
imports of organic fuel into the region and also to provide a reliable power supply for
the peninsula.
In 1999, the commissioning of the first hydroelectric unit with a
capacity of 80,000 kW inaugurated operations at the Zelenchuksk and Karachaevo-Cherkessia
hydro power stations. The commissioning of a second hydro power unit at the station will
allow the republic to produce 60 million kWh of cheap electricity a year.
A decision was made to abandon the construction and preservation of the
inefficient Beloporozhsk hydro power station, which was still at an early stage of
construction. No new construction projects were inaugurated in 1999.
Retooling and reconstructing equipment. In 1999, work
was completed on retooling and reconstructing nine physically worn and obsolescent
equipment units at the Holding Company’s operational electricity generating stations.
The Pravdinsk hydro power station (Yantarenergo) was restored, with the installation of a
new hydro power unit with a capacity of 1,100 kW to replace a unit previously dismantled.
The increase in capacity as a result of the work was 48,500 kW.
Extensive reconstruction work was also carried out at six turbine
equipment units, with the result that their operational life was extended by a period
comparable with the initial design life.
Commissioning high-voltage electric power transmission lines.
RAO UES of Russia’s own funds have been used to commission 630.5 km of 330—500 kW
high-voltage lines. The commissioning of a 123.2 km of 330 kV overhead line along the
route Metallurgicheskaya — Valuiki allows the transmission of power from the Kursk hydro
power station to the south-east areas of the Belgorod region, and also makes it possible
to reduce the dependence of the region’s power supply on Ukraine. The 444.7 km 500 kW
overhead line connecting the Rostov nuclear power station and Budenovsk is a section of a
transit line for about 500 MW of power transmitted from the Mid-Volga UES (the Balakovsk
nuclear power plant) to the Northern Caucasus (Dagestan). In 1999, a transmission line
connecting Magadan and Ust-Omchug was brought into operation with a nominal voltage of 710-
kV — making it possible to transmit 190 MW of power from the Kolyma hydro power station
and thereby reducing the requirement for imported organic fuel for the Magadan Combined
Heat & Power Plant, as well as improving the reliability of the electricity supply to
the town of Magadan.
Reconstructing and re-equipping electric power grids.
During the last three years, the volume of this kind of work has doubled, but it is
clearly still inadequate. In 1998—1999, groups of autotransformers were commissioned at
the Kurdyum, Kliuchiki, Yuzhnaya, Trubnaya and Opornnaya substations; 500 kV 180 Mvar
shunting reactors were commissioned at the Tambov, Trubnaya, Balaklavskaya nuclear power
stations; 110 kV 100 Mvar shunting reactors were commissioned at the Pskov fossil fuel
power station and reserve stages of 500 kV shunting reactors were commissioned at the
Veshkaima and Vladimirskaya substations. This has made it possible to stabilise the
voltage in the adjacent grid and to improve the reliability of the power supply to
consumers.
Constructing the inter-system electric power transmission lines. This
is an especially important project. In 1999, work was continued on the construction of the
following inter-system electric power transmission lines:
- A 500 kV overhead line from Khabarovsk to the Primorskaya fossil fuel power station for
the transmission of electricity from the Bureisk hydro power station (currently under
construction) to energy-deficient areas of the Maritime Territory;
- A 500 kV overhead line with substations along the route from the Gusinoozersk fossil
fuel power station to Petrovsk, Zabaikalsky and Chita, which together with the existing
500 kV overhead line from Irkutsk to the Gusinoozersk fossil fuel power station will
provide electricity to energy-deficient areas of the Trans-Baikal region;
- A 330 kV overhead line along the route Budennovsk — Kizlyar — Chir-Yurt, reinforcing
the main North Caucasus grid and establishing a direct link between the electric power
system of Dagestan and the Unified Energy System of Russia;
- A 330 kV overhead line from the Pskov fossil fuel power station to Staraya Russa and a
330 kV overhead line from Kingisepp to Perevolok, providing the Pskov electric power
system with a source of power independent of Estonia;
- An extension of the Vyborg direct current transformer substation and a 330 kV overhead
line for increasing exports of electricity to Finland.
The development of electric power grids is necessary in order to meet
the needs of the developing Russian market in electric energy and power, and also to
ensure a reliable output of power from electricity generating stations and a reliable
supply of power to consumers. This will require upgrading and retooling of grid
installations on a substantial scale, as well as the construction of new grid elements.
