OREANDA-NEWS. An All-Russia meeting of General Directors of RAO UES companies was held on 2-3 November in Moscow to discuss the progress in the energy companies' preparations for the 2007/2008 autumn and winter period. The event was presided by Chairman of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" Anatoly Chubais.

RAO UES entities are currently completing preparations for the autumn-winter peak load. The repairs campaign is nearing completion in accordance with the schedule and the required fuel inventories (coal and fuel oil) have been built up. The companies are also close to signing long-term bilateral gas supply agreements between RAO entities and regional divisions of OAO "Gazprom". The water level at the HPP reservoirs is in accordance with the regulations.

According to forecast, in December-January, temperatures in most areas of Russia are expected to be close to the long-term averages, but lower than last winter. Next February, a lower-than-normal temperature is expected in the south-east of the Siberian Federal Okrug and in the south-west of the Far Eastern Federal Okrug.

Besides the success of the repair campaign, in 2007, the RAO UES energy companies will build over 2,340 MW of generation capacity. Federal Grid Company will construct over 640 km of HV transmission lines and bring on line almost 4,300 MBA of transformer capacity and 540 of Mvar of reactive power. The distribution grid companies will put into operation over 3,100 km of 0.4 kV-220 kV transmission lines.

Among the key generation facilities to be brought on line is unit 6 with the capacity of 115 MW at the Yaroslavskaya CHPP-2 of OAO "TGC-2", hydro power units 5 and 6 with an aggregate capacity of 670 MW at the Bureyskaya HPP. In the very near future, a 450 MW unit will be launched at OAO "Mosenergo". The launch of 750 kV "Leningradskaya" substation, "Raduga" substation, "Osinovka" substation, "Veshkayma" substation, "Klyuchiki" substation, "Voskhod" substation, "Barabinskaya" substation, "Yemelino" substation, "Zapadnaya" substation, "Chagino" substation, "Beskudnikovo" substation, "Somkinskaya" substation, "Kirilliovskaya" substation, "Tarko-Sale" substation, of 500 kV each; the 330 kV Mashuk" substation, the 500 kV line "Zarya-Sibir Tavricheskaya" (the third connection of Siberia with the Urals area and the European part of Russia) will improve the reliability of the power grid sector. OAO "UES SO-CDA" will bring on line new dispatching centers in the Moscow RDA and Rostov RDA equipped with cutting edge technological equipment, hardware and software facilities.

The meeting participants will also discuss the final restructuring of the electricity industry, assess the progress made in implementing the RAO UES Investment Programme, and further development of the electricity (capacity) markets.