OREANDA-NEWS. December 17, 2009. JSC RusHydro (ticker symbol: HYDR; MICEX, RTS and LSE) obtained its Winter Readiness Certificate for the autumn - winter 2009 - 2010 period. Since November 9th, 2009, an Interagency Committee has been inspecting and assessing the Company's readiness to operate in winter conditions. The inspection has been executed in full compliance with Regulations pertaining to checking the readiness of electric power engineering entities for winter operation - these Regulations have been approved by the Russian Federal Electric Power Supply Headquarters. The Committee determined  that the primary requirements for winter operation have been observed; the Committee also established a calendar schedule for additional conditions.

Based on factual water resource reserves and forecast afflux, all of the Company's HPPs are prepared to perform at target figures for operating capacity, and are also ready to participate in dispatching effective control procedures.

From September 21st, 2009 to November 18th, 2009, RusHydro's facilities were inspected for operational readiness during the winter period. The Acceptance Committees included local representatives from: Rostekhnadzor, the Russian MChS, the Russian Ministry of Energy and branches of JSC "SO UES" Readiness Certificates were issued to 19 branches and 3 subsidiaries and dependent companies (JSC Zaramagskiye HPP, JSC Geoterm and JSC Kolymaenergo). Due to intensive recovery work that is being carried out at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP post-accident, winter preparation for this site was carried out on an individualized schedule. Procedures connected with issuing the winter certificate were also individually regulated.

RusHydro is committed to upgrading its generating resources to meet international best practice standards, which show no more than 30% wear on equipment. In addition, the special task group, which was created at the initiative of RusHydro, is working on incorporating changes and additions into normative and technical documentation (NTD) investigating technical materials regarding the cause of the accident on August 17th, 2009. The Task Group includes representatives from the Russian Academy of Science, research institutes, design institutes, specialized service organizations and companies that operate electric stations. The Task Group has already developed a set of proposals to change both industry and Company-specific standards. Furthermore, changes are being introduced in the development plan for the new NTD.