OREANDA-NEWS. On July 31, 2007 a corner-stone laying ceremony was held in Shatura, Moscow Region to start the construction of a new power unit at the Shaturskaya TPP. The ceremony was attended by Chairman of the Moscow Region Duma Valery Aksakov, Chairman of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" Anatoly Chubais, and Director General of OAO "WGC-4" Andrey Kitashev, reported the press-centre of RAO "UES of Russia".

The Shaturskaya TPP is one of the first energy facilities built under the GOELRO plan back in the 1920s. Today, it is the largest power plant in the Moscow Region with a capacity of 1,100 MW. The plant is part of OAO "Fourth Generation Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market" (WGC-4).

The construction of the new unit is one of the key investment projects to be implemented by OAO "WGC-4". It is included in the RAO UES Investment Programme for 2006-2010 and the Development Programme of the Moscow Energy System. The rapid development of the Moscow Region's economy has led to the rapid growth of energy consumption not only in winter when the temperatures are low, but also during summer. Energy consumption in Moscow and the Moscow Region is growing at a rate higher than Russia's average and in 2006 exceeded 6 %.

The new 400 MW power unit at the Shaturskaya TPP will help significantly improve the reliability of power supply to consumers in the Eastern part of the Moscow Energy System. OAO "WGC-4" will spend RUB10 billion in funds on this project.

The plant's new unit will use advanced combined-cycle technology. It is considered a priority technology to be used by RAO UES entities in their generation projects, because this technology helps raise a unit's efficiency to 57%. For comparison, conventional steam power units commonly used in the Russian electricity industry have efficiency of not more than 40%. Moreover, combined-cycle units are much more economical. They use 20-25% less fuel to generate 1 kWh of electrify. Another advantage of the combined cycle technology is a threefold reduction of hazardous emissions into atmosphere.

There is another innovative solution to be implemented within the framework of this project. The new combined cycle unit will have a unique single-shaft turbine. Besides the well-known advantages of the combined-cycle technology, such as high efficiency and environmental properties, the single-shaft unit is significantly smaller. It makes it possible to quickly build new generation facilities at the territory of the existing power plants. The new unit at the Shaturskaya TPP is scheduled to come on line in early 2009.

The project will be implemented using new technologies not only in the electricity generation, but also in organizing the investment process. During the official ceremony, OAO "WGC-4" signed an agreement with the consortium of General Electric International Inc. (США) and Gama Guk Sistemleri Muhendislik ve Taahhut A.S. (Turkey), the winner of the tender to build the PGU-400 unit on a turnkey basis. Under the agreement, General Electric and Gama will act as general contractors in the project to carry out the engineering, procurement of equipment and materials, construction (EPC) and commissioning of the single-shaft combined-cycle unit.