OREANDA-NEWS. On 27 March 2008 was announced, that Unit 10 of Reftinskaya GRES (one of OGK-5’s production branches) with the installed capacity of 500 MW was put back into operation, following its full and expeditious restoration after the accident of December 20, 2006. Presently, all of the ten units of the largest coal-fired plant in Russia are in operation.

Accident management was not limited to repairing and restoration activities only. Emphasis was laid on actions related to the reconstruction and upgrade of the unit’s main and auxiliary equipment. Thus, the turbine life was significantly extended, new turbine generator, main transformer and own needs transformer were installed, more than 90% of cable and impulse lines, metering devices and electric drives were renewed. The total amount of restoration and upgrade costs was as much as 2.2 billion roubles. It should be noted that about 40% of the said amount was compensated by SAK Energogarant, the insurance company, which timely and correctly performed its obligations for the insurance of the power plant’s property.

Mikhail Krupin, the First Deputy Director General – Financial Director of Reftinskaya GRES, noted: “Unit 10 at Reftinskaya GRES is a vivid example of the fact that the team of OGK-5 has learnt not only to win but also to bear the brunt. I believe we can compare it to the launch of a defense plant during WWII”.

Nikolai Derkach, the Director of Reftinskaya GRES, expressed its gratitude to everybody participating in the reconstruction of Unit 10, giving the following comments: “No such wide-scale activities have been carried out at Reftinskaya GRES since the commissioning of the power plant’s last unit; that is why the repairs of Unit 10, done in record short time, can be compared to building a new generating unit.”

In his comments to the launch of the unit, Yuri Shevelev, the Minister of Energy and Housing Utilities of Sverdlovsk Oblast, noted: “The work of Urals’ power industry workers has always been marked by a high degree of responsibility. The upgraded, nearly new Unit 10 of Reftinskaya GRES, with its capacity of 500 MW, makes a significant contribution to increasing the safety of the power system and covering the needs of the developing industry in the Urals region”.