CHP on Olympic fire

The head of the RAO UES Anatoly Chubais promises to commission 1129 MW of new and modernized power plants in Sochi until 2011, Kommersant writes on Friday. "The total cost of work is estimated at 83.6 billion rubles, of which 49.9 billion will be aimed at investing in an electric grid economy," Chubais said.

In accordance with his plans, four power plants and four cascading hydroelectric power stations will be built and modernized in the Sochi area. In addition, the power line on the Central section - Shepsi, which under extreme weather conditions, often fails, will be replaced. Instead, a cable-air line will be built, partially laid along the bottom of the Black Sea.

Now the installed capacity of the Sochi power plants is 350 MW, and the increase in power consumption last year was 6.3 percent. By 2014, RAO EEC promises to increase the installed capacity of the city by 900 MW, of which about 300 MW will consume sports facilities of the Olympiad.

Industry experts believe that much of the stated energy now would have been built if it were not for the Olympiad. They are also sure that finding private investors for the construction and modernization of the Sochi energy system will not be easy.

According to the analyst of the Council of Tripoten, the investment company of the Council, taking into account the declared new plans for the construction of residential and hotel complexes, the installed capacity necessary for the Olympiad could not help but increase. "An expensive network for the construction of a cable along the bottom of the sea, RAO UES would hardly have implemented, if not for the prospects of the Olympiad," she said. Potential private investors, added by Madame Tripoten, the construction of energy facilities in Sochi could also hardly be interesting, because "it is not clear how the electricity will be consumed after the Olympiad ends."