New Energy for the East of Russia

The MAIN JOURNAL for POWER GRID SPECIALISTS in RUSSIA

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4–7 September, 2013, Jakarta, Indonesia

New Energy for the 

East of Russia

Dmitry Selyutin: “The total volume of both budgetary and 

Dmitry Selyutin: “The total volume of both budgetary and 

power companies’ own expenditure on the development of 

power companies’ own expenditure on the development of 

the energy infrastructure up to 2025 is estimated at 

the energy infrastructure up to 2025 is estimated at 

1.3 trillion rubles (more than 39 billion doll.)”.

1.3 trillion rubles (more than 39 billion doll.)”.

Investment

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4–7 September, 2013, Jakarta, Indonesia

Overhead line crossing over the Lena river (HVL 220 kV “Chernyshevsky – Mirnyi – Lensk – Peleduy” 
with tap to No. 14 NPS” and HVL 220 kV “Suntar – Olekminsk” Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

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M

ister Selyutin, how do you view the Far East region in the long 
term as regards electric power industry development?

At present, extensive integration processes take place in the Far East 

Federal District; in fact, modernization of the area planning scheme 
has been completed, a macro-region is being formed. In November of 
2012 there was a meeting of the State Council where they discussed the 
development of the Far East. On the basis of the State Council’s meeting 
results, President Vladimir Putin gave a multitude of instructions, 
including those concerning working out of the state development program 
for the Far East and Baikal region. This format of the macro-region was 
recorded for the 

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 rst time, earlier they had considered development only 

of the Far East and Transbaikal. In February the government resumed 
reviewing this program. It is expected to set out the creation of the uni

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 ed 

energy infrastructure of eastern territories, which will be further used as a 
basis for development of new projects in the manufacturing industry and 
social sphere.

One should say a few words about some major modern directions of 

electric power industry development in the Far East. The 

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 rst major direction 

is creating new generation sources to replace aging inef

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 cient sources with 

the expired service life as well as meeting new rates of electric power and 
heat consumption.

The second direction is the development of the UNEG, development of the 

network line component. Here one should emphasize the task of increasing 
power supply reliability for existing lines, provision of parallel operation 
of UES of Siberia and UES of the East, which at present operate in synch, 
but not in parallel, which limits the power 

fl

 ows from the East to the West 

and backwards. The development of networks implies reducing the area of 
decentralized power supply (at present it is a large part of the territory of 
Yakutia, as well as energy systems of Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Magadan 
region). Another independent task is providing external power supply for the 
Eastern Gas program.

The third direction is optimization of local power industry. There are 

numerous residential places, individual industrial facilities, which are not 
integrated into this area of the decentralized power supply, in isolated energy 
systems. As a rule, they have power supply from local diesel plants, the use 
of which predetermines a highest level of the tariff load and a large volume of 
cross-subsidization. The latter have to implement energy systems and regional 
regulations to level off the tariffs for consumers. For instance, Yakutia has 
a number of areas isolated from each other, and within these areas there are 
numerous residential places with their own generation facilities, which have 
not been integrated into this grid yet. Of course, it would be irrational to plan 
construction of separate lines for each of these residential places. There one 
should use ef

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 cient distributed generation technologies.

The fourth direction, which is expected to be worked out in detail in the 

state program, is increasing export orientation of the electric power industry 
of the Far East. This component is evidently underdeveloped now. The Far 

The plans of advanced development of the Far East 
energy infrastructure should be expanded with 
consideration for new large-scale industrial projects. 
The 

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 rst deputy general director for investment and 

development of JSC “Far East Energy Management 
Company” (FEEMC) Dmitry Selyutin speaks about the 
energy infrastructure expansion plans.

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4–7 September, 2013, Jakarta, Indonesia

Investment

East of Russia has colossal possibilities of supplying 
power to markets of the bordering countries. There are 
numerous opportunities, but so are the problems. The state 
program is to give answers to questions on overcoming 
these problems.

Will these directions be covered at length in the 

state program, or will detailed plans follow some later?

The state program format itself does not imply working 

out of the given projects in detail. It will take place further 
on, in the Federal target program, in territorial schemes of 
electric power industry development for individual areas, 
in investment programs of companies being electric power 
industry entities, in an integral document, the UNEG 
development scheme (in the latter case — with no respect 
to local electric power industries).

What promising projects are considered now? Out 

of which funds do you plan to implement them?

First of all, a decision has been made about additional 

capitalization of JSC “RusHydro”, which is a famous 
story with dividends of “Rosneftegaz”, 50 billion rubles 
(1.5 billion doll.) provided for construction of generating 
facilities in the Far East Federal District. These funds 
are to be invested into construction of Yakutskaya 
GRES-2, Blagoveshchenskaya CHPP of the second stage, 
Sakhalinskaya Power Plant in Solnechnogorsk and a 
CHPP in Sovetskaya Gavan. It is by far not an exhaustive 
list of generation facilities essential in the Far East, but 
these are the facilities considered to be of 

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 rst priority.

Furthermore, it is planned to create new electric power 

sources in the Udokan region (in the area of Apsat coal

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 eld 

which is now actively developed by JSC “SUEK”), 
to construct the Dzhebariki-Khaya CHPP, which is to 
become a generating facility in the middle of an extensive 
line interconnecting the energy systems of Yakutia and the 
Russian Federation with that of Magadan Region, as well as 
the Vilyuy power plant on the line interconnecting Nyurba 

and Yakutsk. Thus, the region will 
have many new power plants, which 
will replace aging facilities and enable 
keeping up with the growth of electric 
power consumption. In their turn, a 
number of large CHPPs (managed 
by JSC “INTER RAO”) on the West 
of Transbaikal will have the export-
oriented character (Erkovetskaya TPP 
and Olon-Shibirskaya TPP).

I’d also like to tell you about two 

new projects which have already been 
set up by FEEMC and which are to be 
developed in the nearest time. Firstly, 
it is the construction of two single-
circuit lines Peleduy-Chertovo Koryto 
and Sukhoy Log-Mamakan. This is 
probably one of the few examples in 
the Russian electric power industry 
with implementation of the public-
private partnership principle. As far as 
the balance is concerned, the situation 

is the following: there is a large volume of unclaimed 
capacity on the west of Yakutia. The power plants of the 
Vilyuy Cascade and Svetlinskaya HPP have the capacity 
of 200 MW, which can be transferred to the system. At 
the same time, during two recent years, two regions of 
Yakutsk have been considered to be the regions with 
increased power supply risks, so called high-risk regions. 
There arises an additional need in capacity due to the 
development of large gold 

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 elds — Chertovo Koryto and 

Sukhoy Log developed by the company “Polyus Gold”.

Building the line Chernyshevsky-Mirny-Lensk-

Peleduy, we are reaching the south of Yakutia this year, 
and almost 100 km lie between us and the 

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 eld of Cher-

tovo Koryto. Having examined the possibilities for sup-
plying the existing power to these 

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 elds, we conducted 

negotiations with “Polyus Gold”. As a result of these ne-
gotiations, these two single-circuit lines with substations 
were included into the investment program of FEEMC. 
The construction costs are estimated at 16 billion rubles 
(0.5 billion doll.), a third part of which is to be borne by 
“Polyus Gold”.

In the current year we are going to start designing the 

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 rst stage of the line, and later this year — its construction 

as well. In 2014 there will arise the possibility of directing 
the excess capacity from the cascade of Viluyu HPPs to 
the 

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 eld of Chertovo Koryto, which is interconnected with 

the plans of its development by “Polyus Gold”.

Following that FEEMC will proceed with implementa-

tion of the second stage of construction and expansion of 
the line built by “Polyus Gold” towards Mamakan, with 
the use of the funds provided in the budget of the Russian 
Federation within the framework of the Federal invest-
ment program.

The result of this project is interconnecting the 

Western region of Yakutia with UNEG, a decrease of 
the decentralized power-supply area. This will provide 

The 

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  rst construction stage of the HVL 220 kV “Chernyshevsky – Mirnyi – 

Lensk – Peleduy» with tap to No. 14 NPS”, Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

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infrastructure-related opportuni-
ties for the ef

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 cient development 

of the largest Eastern Siberia 
gold 

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 elds and will have unam-

biguous tariff consequences for 
the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) — 
the Western Energy region will 
start to live according to the mar-
ket rules.

In 2012 in Yakutia we 

commissioned transmission lines 
220 kV over 770 km long. On 
the whole, ESPO power supply 
by FEEMC made it possible 
to do away with the lag of the 
Yakutia power grid complex 
resulting from recent 30—40 
years. Centralized power-supply 
was implemented in Olekminsk 
(by means of the line Suntar-
Olekminsk); power supply was 
provided for pumping stations 
12, 13 and 14. With the use of this 
line FGC UES is going to start 
construction of a branch line at 
pumping station 

№

 11 this year. It 

is also used for supplying power to Bodaybinsky District.

Besides, I’d like to draw your attention to the construc-

tion of the line Maya — Khandyga — Ust-Nera — Raz-
vilka — Tyoply Klyuch — Nera Novaya. This line will in-
terconnect Magadan energy system and UNEG. The con-
struction of Kolymskaya HPP and Ust-Nizhnekamskaya 
HPP is to make sense — it will enable power supply from 

these large power plants not only to the 

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 elds localized in 

Magadan region, but to large enterprises to be constructed 
in the territory of Eastern Yakutia. First of all, it concerns 
the development of Yano-Kolymskaya gold-mining prov-
ince and multi-metal deposits.

The line is going to have an extensive length; 

therefore technologically a generation facility will be 

required in its middle. That is 
the reason for the construction 
of Dzhebariki-Khaya power 
plant (the power plant in 
Khandyga with the capacity of 
120 MW).

The total volume of the 

budgetary as well as of the power 
companies’ own expenditure on 
the development of the energy 
system infrastructure up to 2025 
is estimated at 1.3 trillion rubles 
(40 billion doll.). It is a lot, 
however, comparing the funds 
with what has been already 
invested during recent 5years, the 
expenditure seems to be justi

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 ed. 

FEEMC alone has spent over 
40 billion rubles (1.2 billion doll.) 
on the development of the Far 
East energy infrastructure during 
recent 4 years.

Interviewer

Olga SEMENOVA

Assembling transmission tower of HVL “Central – Sokol – Palatka”, 
Magadanskaya oblast.

Overhead line crossing over the Lena river.