Translated material
Autumn blackouts
Capital power engineers are already limiting electricity consumption
The cold has not yet set in, but power outages have already begun in Moscow and the Moscow region. As Vladimir Kimerin, general director of Mosenergosbyt, said yesterday at a joint press conference of the heads of the capital's energy companies, restrictions have been introduced at 75 industrial enterprises with a total capacity of 50-150 MW over the past two weeks. Last winter, with frosts of 30 degrees, the maximum volume of restrictions was 640 MW, said the head of Mosenergo Anatoly Kopsov. The reason is an unfinished repair campaign and delays in the commissioning of new network facilities, which is why it is necessary to limit the load on existing substations.For such a long time - until the end of November - repair work in the capital's electric power industry has not been carried out for a long time. The head of the Moscow United Energy Grid Company, Yuri Trofimov, attributes this to the fact that now we had to prepare for winter more seriously than before: the company’s investment program for this year amounted to 23.5 billion rubles, about 30 power facilities have been prepared for commissioning, more than 40 km of high-voltage lines have been laid (220 and 110 kV) power lines. Moreover, according to him, 15 objects are being reconstructed at the expense of investors - the government of Moscow and the Moscow region. However, even taking into account such extensive work, it will not be possible to eliminate bottlenecks in the network economy this year. Mr. Trofimov said: “We will be able to pass through the autumn-winter peak (load – Ed. ) normally only by the end of 2008.” So, during severe frosts, businesses will suffer primarily in those areas where restrictions are already being introduced. As Mr. Kimerin says, these are “three directions - western, southwestern and northwestern.”
As Mr. Kopsov once again reported yesterday, if 30-degree frosts are repeated in the coming winter, then the picture in the days of severe cold in the capital’s energy sector will be as follows: consumption will be 17,500 MW, generation 12,800 MW, deficit 4,700 MW. Last winter, power plants generated 16,850 MW, consumption was 12,600 MW, and the deficit was 4,250 MW. The first source of covering the deficit is the mobilization of additional power at the capital's power plants (this is achieved through the introduction of special equipment operation schemes, but the station cannot operate in this mode all the time). Last year, an additional 630 MW was found in this way; this year, 800 MW is expected. From neighboring regions - primarily from the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant, Kostroma, Ryazan and Konakovskaya State District Power Plants - in January the capital's system received 2,980 MW; this year, due to the expansion of network capacity, it will be possible to receive 3,200 MW. Thus, if the maximum restrictions last winter were 640 MW, then this coming winter they will be a maximum of 700 MW. The first restrictions in energy supply may begin, according to Mr. Kopsov, at temperatures of minus 20 degrees.
All participants in yesterday’s press conference once again pointed out that only industrial enterprises could be affected, and, as Mr. Kimerin put it, “within reasonable limits” - that is, the power engineers will try to ensure that the restrictions have as little impact on the organization’s economic activities as possible and that The list of enterprises subject to restrictions has changed. In other words, power engineers plan to do the same as last year. The only problem is that sometimes energy consumers rent out space and do not notify the energy supply organization about the change in the profile of the enterprise. However, as the head of Mosenergosbyt says, his employees are now actively identifying such cases and making appropriate changes to the restriction schedules.
In selected areas of Moscow, there is a shortage of electrical grid capacity; it is almost impossible to connect new electricity consumers there. As a result, Mosenergo, a generating company, is forced to build in load centers or in areas where there will be major construction, so-called main distribution facilities for distributing power from station buses - an analogue of network facilities. In particular, such devices will be built in the area of CHPP-20 (Gagarin Square), where it is planned to build residential and business areas.