The Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District said that the major problem in regional power engineering is the considerable wear and tear of electricity equipment. For example, physical wear on the power stations of RAO Energy System of the East is over 61%. This figure is 64% for power grids and over 67% for power substations.
Almost half of the generating equipment of power stations is beyond its service life. Twenty percent of turbo generators with an aggregate capacity of 1,600 megawatts, 21% of boilers with a steam rate of 7,400 tonnes per hour, 17% of power grids and 28% of heating grids need to be replaced.
The existing generating capacities in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and in the southern Primorye Territory are insufficient to meet growing demand.
Simultaneously the sector is losing qualified workers.
Regarding the prospects of energy infrastructure development, the meeting participants said that developing the electric power sector in the Far East is necessary for the implementation of such economic projects as the comprehensive development of South Yakutia, the development of the Vanino-Sovetsko-Gavansky transport and industry hub, Yano-Kolymskaya Gold Mine Province, Chaun-Bilibinskaya industrial zone, the modernisation of the Trans-Siberian Railway and expanding the traffic capacity of the Baikal-Amur Mainline.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, the executive office of the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far-Eastern Federal District, Rushydro, System Operator (SO-CDA UES), Russian Grids, RAO Energy System of the East, Russian Railways and other relevant departments.
Source: Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East
