Its consumption in the country may fall by almost 5%

The largest coal-fired power plants in the European part of Russia and the Urals could not withstand competition with more efficient generation. Six stations with a total capacity of 2.3 GW did not pass the competitive selection of power for 2015, of which 1.5 GW belongs to Gazprom Energoholding. If generation companies do not pay for the operation of outdated facilities, coal suppliers may lose up to 4.7% of domestic sales for 3.6-7 billion rubles.

Photo: Alexander Koryakov, Kommersant / buy photo

The results of competitive capacity selection for 2015 in the first price zone (CZ, the European part of Russia and the Urals) threaten the sales of Russian coal companies, said Pavel Shatsky, deputy general director of Gazprom Energoholding (GEH). This year there were five times more stations that did not undergo competitive selection of power than in the previous year - 15 GW, of which 4.8 GW are coal-fired; this generation will not receive a fixed fee for power in 2015 - about 30% of their income . If companies are not compensated for the costs of these thermal power plants, recognizing them as “forced” (necessary for energy or heat supply), then the owners will have to decommission them. Only GEH, one of the largest consumers of coal in the first central zone, can reduce purchases by 1.5-1.7 million tons per year, clarified Pavel Shatsky. 1.5 GW of coal-fired power plants in the European part of Russia did not pass price competition.

In the first central zone, 2.3 GW (six stations), where coal is the main fuel, and 1.17 GW (seven thermal power plants), where it is a backup fuel, were not selected, say System Operator. The first group included the Novocherkasskaya State District Power Plant (NchHPP), the Cherepovetskaya State District Power Plant, the Apatitskaya Thermal Power Plant of the State Electric Power Plant, the Argayashskaya Thermal Power Plant "Fortuma", the Kurgan Thermal Power Plant of the Kurgan Generating Company and the Experimental Thermal Power Plant, the Kommersant source adds. Whether they will receive payment for power will be decided by the Energy Commission before the end of the year.

NchGRES (15% of consumption in the UES of the South) and Cherepovets GRES consume 4 million tons of coal per year from the Donbass, Rostov, Inta and Vorkuta basins. The GEH claims that we are talking about 60% of the total production in these basins. According to the reporting of OGK-2, which includes GRES, its main suppliers are Resursenergougol (13%), Energo-Impuls (11%), Southern Telecommunications Company (14%) and Krasnoyarskkraigol (18%). The main suppliers for NchGRES in 2014-2016 are Rostov-based Donugol and Flash Energy, OGK-2 clarifies. OGK-2 purchases coal at an average price of 1,294 rubles/t excluding VAT; the most expensive coal is supplied to NchGRES, according to the report for the second quarter of 2014. Fortum does not disclose the suppliers of the Argayash CHPP, noting that the station uses Chelyabinsk and Kazakh coal. KGC did not respond to Kommersant's request.

According to Pavel Shatsky, reducing the share of coal generation will upset the energy balance in the first central zone (currently the share of coal in the Unified Energy System of Russia is 29%). In the European part of the country, there are few coal-fired thermal power plants, and their chances of passing competitive capacity selection are small. But, says the top manager, these capacities allow Gazprom to fulfill its gas export obligations in cold winters.

The Southern Coal Company (owned by the trader UTK) was unable to provide comments. Resursenergougol LLC (a joint venture between Rusal and the Kazakh Samruk Energy) is the trading structure of the Kazakh Bogatyr Komir (they did not respond to Kommersant’s request). Ekaterinburg-based Energo-Impulse, owned, according to SPARK, by Konstantin Walter and Elena Vasilyeva, is a trader of Kazakh coal, its supplies to Russia in 2014 will amount to 11 million tons, according to the company’s website (the volume of supplies to stations is not disclosed). Krasnoyarsk Kraiugol (KKU) is controlled by Cypriot Barlen Holdings Ltd, the head of the board of directors is the owner of Russian Coal, Mikhail Gutseriev. In 2013, KKU's sales to power engineers accounted for over 2 million tons of coal (54.3% of sales), it follows from its reporting; they did not answer Kommersant's calls yesterday.

According to the Ministry of Energy, in 2013, power engineers purchased 92 million tons of coal, and a total of 280 million tons of thermal coal were produced. Due to the suspension of GEKh stations, domestic demand may decrease by 1.6%. If we assume that coal stations in Europe and the Urals are minimally loaded, then their coal consumption is 4-4.4 million tons per year, says Vladimir Sklyar from Renaissance Capital. If all inefficient coal generation in the first central zone is closed, domestic demand for coal may fall by 4.7%, and in general coal miners will lose about 1.6% of sales. Domestic prices for thermal coals are 900-1.6 thousand rubles. for 1 ton, depending on the grades, that is, coal miners will lose 3.6-7 billion rubles, says Airat Khalikov from Veles Capital Investment Company. However, the manager of one of the Russian coal companies emphasizes that supplies to power plants are not very profitable: power engineers require a discount due to the volume of purchases.

Anastasia Fomicheva, Natalya Skorlygina, Anatoly Dzhumailo

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