OREANDA-NEWS. February 01, 2010. IES Holding commissioned a new turbine unit with a capacity of 12 MW Samara GRES (Generation Volga Division). The regional government and IES Holding management representatives attended its inauguration on January, 14.

The turbine and generator (produced by Kaluga turbine plant and Lysva Elektrotyazhmash - Privod, respectively) were installed at Samara GRES as part of Diadem investment program of IES Holding. This project was named Selenite. Selenite is a semi-precious mineral that has been used since ancient times for jewelry. It occurs near Samara at the Tsar Mound and the village of Vodino. 

"Selenite" is first project realized by IES Holding within Diadem. Despite a relatively small capacity of the new facility, the project is of a special interest. 

The new facility is a successor of the AEG turbine and Elektrosila generator that had operated since 1931 (for 77 years) and were decommissioned a year and a half ago.  The old turbine aroused such interest in Germany that they decided to move it to Deutsche Technikmuseum. The delivery ceremony took place in summer 2008.

Samara GRES is one of the oldest Russian power plants: in 2010, it will celebrate its 110th anniversary. The new turbine will ensure heat supply to 260 thousand square meters of residential space in the central districts of Samara. The electric capacity of Samara GRES will grow from 49 MW to 61 MW, while the specific fuel consumption for electric energy production will be reduced by 15.9%.

Implementation of "Selenite" cost RUR 386.6 million. The general contractor of this project was Samara Production and Repairs Company. The payback period for the new unit will be about 10 years.

"Following the investment plan is a top priority with IES Holding. "Selenite" is not only the first gem of the Diadem. This project shows that the company is oriented to retrofitting the generating equipment and enhancing its effectiveness and reliability", said Andrey Wagner, First Vice-President of IES Holding.