Official: Russia can delay Taman power plant launch for 1–2 yrs

MOSCOW, Nov 12 (PRIME) -- The Russian Energy Ministry expects that the launch of the Udarnaya power plant on the Taman Peninsula will be postponed for 1–2 years from April 2021, Deputy Minister Yevgeny Grabchak told reporters on Tuesday.

“It is most probably be postponed, the investor has not asked us for postponement but taking into account our not seeing active construction and assembly works which must be carried out there according to the plan, we think that the date will most probably be postponed for a year or two,” Grabchak said.

The contractor, Technopromexport, can be fined for the short-supply of capacity. The company earlier applied many times for help it get technical conditions for gas supply.

Grabchak separately said that foreign companies could sell gas turbines to the Russian power plants under a capacity upgrade program on condition of a special investment deal with Russia and exports of Russia-made equipment of the same amount as the imported one.

“We have concerns that a large investor would come with a special investment deal, there is a three-year period when it is possible not to produce the equipment locally. We, for instance, suggested stipulating in these special investment deals that all gas turbines delivered to the territory of Russia, not made locally, during the three-year period be backed by an obligation by a company investor to export turbines,” Grabchak said.

Russia does not produce gas turbines with a capacity of over 110 MW. In March, the government decided to create production of large gas turbines in Russia, with 7 billion rubles of budget financing for 2019–2021.

(63.9121 rubles – U.S. $1)

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