December 23, 2019, 10:18 pm / Updated December 24, 2019, 11:33 am / Business

The government approved the modernization of Zainskaya GRES

President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov previously asked President Vladimir Putin about this Elena Vavina Sergey Elashgin / Business Online

Tatenergo is modernizing the 800 MW Zainskaya GRES with the installation of a Siemens 593 MW gas turbine. The project was selected on Monday at a meeting of the government commission by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, three participants in the meeting said.

The issue of Zainskaya GRES was discussed at a meeting of the government commission, the results of the selection will be reflected in the minutes, said Kozak’s representative.

Projects are selected for modernization under power supply agreements (guaranteing a return on investment) for 2025. In total, about 40 GW will be modernized under this program by 2031. Most of the projects will be selected on a competitive basis, but the government will select 15% manually.

Tatenergo planned to completely modernize the Zainskaya GRES, replacing 11 units with two combined cycle plants with a capacity of about 1.7 GW. The cost of the project to modernize the entire station is 46.6 billion rubles, construction of 1 MW is 27.4 million rubles. Vedomosti's interlocutors could not clarify whether the reduction in power would affect the unit cost.

Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov wrote to President Vladimir Putin in December asking him to support the station modernization project, instructing the government to include it in the list of stations that will be updated by 2025. A Tatenergo representative declined to comment.

Previously on the topic: Minnikhanov asked Putin to support the project to modernize the Zainskaya State District Power Plant

In total, about 2.2 GW were selected in the European part of Russia and the Urals and 5.8 MW in Siberia, two meeting participants specify. Inter RAO is modernizing the 448 MW Sterlitamak Thermal Power Plant and the third power unit of the Iriklinskaya State District Power Plant. Tatar TGK-16 is modernizing Kazan CHPP-3 and Nizhnekamsk CHPP at 215 MW. " Quadra - Power Generation " - Tambov CHPP and Smolensk CHPP-2 with a total capacity of 256 MW. TGC-2 will renew 204 MW at Yaroslavl CHPP-2, Yaroslavl CHPP-3 and Vologda CHPP. TGK-2 - 200 MW, Mosenergo (part of Gazprom Energoholding) will update 257 MW at CHPP-25.

) were selected In Siberia, two units of Kuzbassenergo (part of the Siberian Generating Company SUEK - at the Tom-Usinskaya State District Power Plant with a capacity of 400 MW, and one power unit at the Novo-Irkutskaya Thermal Power Plant Irkutskenergo (En+) with a capacity of 175 MW.

None of the projects of the T Plus company , which announced three objects - 200 MW at the Kirovskaya CHPP-5 and 124.9 MW each at the Izhevskaya CHPP-2 and Samara CHPP, said a company representative: “The decision surprises us, because the choice was made in favor of foreign equipment and the electrical market, where there is excess supply. And the industry’s problems, in our opinion, lie in thermal generation and the development of the domestic equipment market.” CHPP-23 Also, the Mosenergo with a capacity of 110 MW did not pass the selection.

Inter RAO is pleased with the results of the selection, a company representative said. " Quadra - Power Generation " received all the projects for modernization under power supply agreements that it was counting on, a company representative said. Gazprom Energoholding declined to comment. A representative of the Ministry of Energy did not respond to a request. Vedomosti is awaiting comments from TGC-16, TGC-2, Siberian Generating Company and Irkutskenergo .

The consent of the state commission to the use of foreign equipment at the Zainskaya GRES in the absence of a power shortage in the first price zone and without localization obligations in the future looks like a one-time decision and is unlikely to be repeated in the future, including for the second block of the station, says VTB Capital analyst Vladimir Sklyar: “The outlier projects of TPP and Mosenergo seem to be more necessary projects from the point of view of long-term reliability of the system. In any case, the project may look expensive from the consumer's point of view, but it can also lead to unexpected benefits. For example, to put pressure on prices on the market a day in advance after commissioning.”