21 january 2013

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visits Adler Thermal Power Plant and attends the ceremonial launch to design capacity

Adler Thermal Power Station

The Adler Thermal Power Station construction project is implemented under the government programme to build Olympic facilities and to develop Sochi as a mountain resort. The Gazprom Group launched construction in 2009.

The power station construction site has an area of 9.89 hectares. Construction ended in April 2012, and gas was supplied to energy-generating facilities in the testing mode. The permit to commission the facility was issued on July 13, 2012.

The station has significantly improved the energy supply to Sochi, providing a reliable electricity and heating supply for the sport and tourism infrastructure in the Imereti Valley and other mountain resort facilities. It has also substantially reduced Sochi’s dependence on neighbouring power systems. The power station’s capacity will cover over one-third of the projected peak demand during the Olympic Games in 2014. Plans also include providing heating to Sochi’s Blinovo residential area in the future.

The station's primary and reserve fuel is natural gas – the most environmentally friendly energy resource. The power station is a modern combined-cycle 360 MW power station with a thermal capacity of 227 Gcal/h, consisting of two self-contained PGU-180 power units of 180 MW each.

The technical solutions and materials used in the power station's construction meet the highest Russian and international environmental standards. The advanced combined-cycle technology offers high efficiency (52%), low fuel consumption, and an average of 30% less harmful emissions than conventional steam power stations. Each unit has two gas turbines manufactured by Ansaldo Energia (Italy) and a Russian-made steam turbine manufactured by the Kaluga Turbine Plant.

The station’s cooling system was created to conserve water given the shortage in the area. It is a closed water-recycling system with dry cooling towers. The cooling water circulates in a closed loop. This solution does not increase humidity and pollution.

Gazprom Mezhregiongaz has built a two-line pipeline to supply gas to the power station. The length of each line is 25.5 kilometres.

One line – with a 500-millimetre-diametre pipeline – runs from the Adler gas distribution station to the Adler power station and serves as the source of the station’s gas supply. The second thread – the 700-1,000-millimetre-diametre pipeline – will be connected to the branches leading to the village of Estosadok and nearby villages and towns in the Adler district, in addition to serving as a back-up for the other pipeline.

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Reference Note Electricity Supply for Facilities of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi

A power generation programme has been developed for the Sochi energy district and is being implemented in order to organise and hold the XXII Winter Olympic Games and the XI Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014. The programme makes provision for the following measures:

Put into operation new power generating facilities with a capacity of 1,424.1 MW, including the 180 MW Dzhubga thermal power station; the 360 MW Kudepsta thermal power station; the 360 MW Adler thermal power station; the 157.8 MW Sochi thermal power station; the 141 MW Tuapse Refinery thermal power station; 202.5 MW mobile gas-turbine power stations; the 16.4 MW Krasnaya Polyana hydroelectric station and the 6.4 MW Khosta Ltd. Company thermal power station;

Build and reconstruct 18 cable and aerial 110 and 220 kV power transmission lines;

Build 20 110 and 220 kV electricity substations;

Reconstruct the municipal power grid.

In addition, the power supply programme for the Sochi energy district should raise the power network reliability levels in line with the N-2 criterion for the list of local Olympic facilities.

Government Resolution No DK-P12-53pr dated April 7, 2009 instructs the Ministry of Energy to compile a register of stated electric loads for Olympic facilities in the Sochi energy district and to regularly update this register, which stores requests for connecting facilities in the city of Sochi to power networks.

As of the latest reporting date, the register estimates the volume of peak required loads for Olympic and non-Olympic facilities of the Sochi energy district at 1,731.37 MW. Considering the integration coefficient used by the EnergoSetProject Institute, peak required loads total 1,380.04 MW.

Forecasts submitted by the Ministry of Energy envision two power consumption scenarios in the Sochi energy district throughout 2014:

High economy scenario (1,000 MW) – This scenario was approved by Government Decision No. DK-P12-9pr dated January 24, 2009;

Maximum scenario (Under the register for the third quarter of 2012) – 1,380 MW.

Given the specific forecasts and the need for standby reserves (180 MW) in case one or several power generating facilities are shut down, the power generation balance in the Sochi energy district will total:

High economy scenario – 244 MW (Surplus);

Maximum scenario – 135.9 MW (Deficit).

Power shortages in the Sochi energy district in 2014 can be compensated by power flow transfers from the Kuban power grid.

At the same time, the Ministry of Energy is examining the following main compensatory measures in case of power shortages:

Compilation of timeframes for emergency shutdowns and the activation of automatic accident prevention systems only in the event of major systematic accidents;

Control over rising predicted loads through expert examinations of requests for power network connections and through expert examinations of loads of facilities which have been examined by the Main State Expert Review Board.

Government Resolution No. 665 dated June 30, 2012 amends Government Resolution No. 341 dated May 15, 2010. These amendments allow the power grid company in the city of Sochi to suspend the fulfillment of a previously signed contract for power network connections during preparations for and organisation of the Olympic Games, should the applicant fail to fulfill their obligations. Moreover, the abovementioned power grid company has the right to suspend the contract signing procedure and the issuing of technical requirements until the end of the Olympic events.

These amendments have made it possible to reduce the volume of the required loads in the register of non-Olympic facilities.

A command centre has been established in order to prepare power generating facilities for the XXII Winter Olympic Games and the XI Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014. The command centre will focus on the construction of Olympic facilities and will promptly address various problems.

Eight power generating facilities (stages) were put into operation in 2012 under the construction programme.

There are plans to put 23 power generating facilities (stages) into operation in 2013 under the construction programme.

The following power generating facilities are to be put into operation:

Dzhubga thermal power station (180 MW) – October 2013;

Kudepsta thermal power station (360 MW) – November 2013;

Adler thermal power station (360 MW) – January 2013;

Tuapse Refinery thermal power station (141 MW) – July 2013;

Mobile gas-turbine power stations (202.5 MW) – November 2013.

The Sochi thermal power station (157.8 MW) and the Krasnaya Polyana thermal power station (16.4 MW) have already been put into operation.