Translated material
Boos NPP
The Kaliningrad region is preparing for an energy crisis
The government of Russia's westernmost region discussed the regional energy development strategy for the period until 2015. The document was prepared by the regional Ministry of Infrastructure Development, headed by Alexander Rolbinov, not an energy engineer, but a ruble billionaire who made his fortune in wholesale and retail trade. The main idea of the strategy he presented is simple and sad: by 2009 , the Kaliningrad region may face a serious shortage of electricity .Among the problems of the local fuel and energy complex are energy shortages in the region; dependence of the region’s energy sector on fuel supplies from outside (including across the borders of neighboring states); limited supply of natural gas; lack of competition in the electricity market; high wear and tear and underdevelopment of the electrical grid complex. “A situation has developed in the power grid complex of the Kaliningrad region, the negative development scenario of which can significantly influence the pace of socio-economic development of the region. Based on a notification from Gazprom OJSC sent to the regional government that the gas pipeline branch to the Kaliningrad region from the North European Gas Pipeline, the gas of which was planned to be sent including to the second block of the Kaliningrad CHPP-2, was built before 2012 it won’t, allows us to conclude - the situation in the region’s electric power industry is becoming critical. Additionally, it is aggravated by the adopted plans of the European Union to close the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania as early as 2009. As a result, the flow of electricity to the Kaliningrad region will decrease,” says the strategy announced by the minister.
It also indicates under what exact conditions by 2009 the westernmost Russian region may face a serious energy deficit (approximately 1.5 billion kWh, which is 30-40% of needs). If the Kaliningrad region does not put into operation the second block of CHPP-2 and new generation facilities, and the energy system of neighboring Lithuania joins the unified Baltic Ring system, it is in this situation that the region will lose the energy so necessary for its dynamic development. And in the event of failures in the operation of the Kaliningrad CHPP-2 or the need to remove its equipment for repairs, the situation with the energy supply of the region may take on the character of a systemic energy crisis.
If the second power unit of CHPP-2 is nevertheless built, and at the same time low- and medium-power facilities are put into operation (in Neman, Svetly, Baltiysk, Gusev, Chernyakhovsk and in the village named after Alexander Kosmodemyansky), by 2010 the region will be able to become energy-deficit-free. But not for long. Already in 2013, the demand for electricity will still exceed possible generation. To prevent this from happening, government strategists propose to build a third power unit of CHPP-2 (with a capacity, like the other two, of 450 MW), and in 2020 to introduce an additional alternative energy source with a capacity of at least 500 MW.
Of course, you can dream about the construction of the third power unit of CHPP-2, but you should not forget that the construction of the second is now, in fact, frozen. Recently, such a decision was made by the head of RAO UES of Russia, Anatoly Chubais, who stated that since Gazprom does not supply gas to the Kaliningrad region, the region will not receive a second power unit . In Kaliningrad itself, this statement was considered political, assuring the local press that the second power unit would still be put into operation, as planned, in 2009. But at the same time, the regional authorities, understanding the dependence of regional generation on gas supplies, plan to convert some energy facilities to peat and coal.
When they started talking about an alternative source with a capacity of 500 MW, they began to find out what it was, was it a nuclear power plant? In the Kaliningrad region at the beginning of the year, there was a lively discussion about the idea of locating a nuclear power plant in the region , the local public then reacted very negatively (see "News Time on February 13") . But in the strategy presented for discussion by the regional government there is not a word about nuclear generation.
As the Ministry of Infrastructure explained to Vremya Novostey, the approved Rosatom program for the development of nuclear energy in Russia until 2020 does not provide for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Kaliningrad region. “In addition, at the end of March 2007, the federal government considered the issue of locating a nuclear power plant in the region, but it was decided that such construction was impossible. The main reasons are that the Kaliningrad region has a limited territory, and there is no infrastructure to compensate for daily fluctuations in electricity consumption, while nuclear power plants can only operate in basic mode,” explained the interlocutor of Vremya Novostey. Similar reasons were voiced at a meeting of the Kaliningrad government.
However, they did not satisfy Governor Georgy Boos. He pointed out that the presented strategy needs to be reworked, and the issue of constructing a nuclear power plant must be taken into account. Mr. Boos emphasized that at the federal level “such studies are now underway, and the regions need to be included in them.” “Modern nuclear energy allows us to even take preschool children on excursions to nuclear power plants, so everything is taken into account there. So this is not an idle question,” added the head of the region.