OREANDA-NEWS. July 22, 2011. INTER RAO and TNK-BP announced the construction of a third power-generating unit at the Nizhnevartovsk TPS with an installed capacity of 400 MW, reported the press-centre of TNK-BP.

Investment costs for the project prior to launch are expected to be 16 billion rubles (excluding VAT). Completion of the unit is planned for mid-2013.

The power-generating unit will eliminate the power-generation deficit in the Nizhnevartovsk region of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region creating the necessary conditions for the further development of oil and gas industry in the region.

The high economic efficiency of the project derives from the use of associated petroleum gas produced by TNK-BP in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region as the energy source. The power-generating unit is included in the list generating facilities approved by the Government of the Russian Federation by which the delivery of power under power-provision contracts may be implemented.

VO Technopromexport has been chosen as the general contractor for the construction of the power-generating unit at the PSU-400 Nizhnevartovsk TPS as of a tender. The general contractor will fulfill the requirements of design, construction, delivery of equipment and materials, installation, commissioning, and warranty tests of the power-generating unit.

"Construction of a third power-generating unit at the Nizhnevartovsk TPS is an important development for INTER RAO, the implementation of which is being undertaken in partnership with a major oil company and a leading Russian engineering company and is aimed at overcoming the power deficit in one of the country’s major centers of oil-production. A distinctive feature of this project is the prior existence of an 18-year contract for the supply of fuel to the power plant. Nothing similar exists in Russia. And in addition, there is a long-term contract for the supply of electricity to oil-producing companies. The lack of electricity will no longer prevent economic development of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region," said Pavel Okley, a member of the Board of INTER RAO.

"Increasing the capacity of the Nizhnevartovsk TPS is fully in keeping with TNK-BP’s long-term strategy aimed at improving the operating performance of the company. In conditions where electricity tariffs are constantly rising, construction of a generation unit will provide an uninterrupted supply of electricity to TNK-BP’s core production assets in the region at reasonable prices, as well as increase the stable market for sale of the company’s associated gas," said Mikhail Slobodin, TNK-BP's executive vice-president of gas and power.

"We are grateful to our clients for their high level of confidence in us and for choosing our company as a the general contractor in the construction of the new power-generating unit at the Nizhnevartovsk TPS. Construction of the Nizhnevartovsk power plant will give Technopromexport the chance once again to demonstrate its great expertise in the implementation of the construction of power plants that use a steam-gas cycle. We are committed to doing everything necessary in the project to justify our status as partner-of-choice in this type of construction. A feature of this project will be the use of dry stripped gas which is the product derived by processing associated gas as the main and reserve fuel,. This is the first project in Russia with similar capacity using this type of fuel. The signing this contract for the construction the new power-generating unit at the Nizhnevartovsk TPS brings total current Technopromexport projects to over 80 billion rubles,” said CEO of VO Technopromexport Alisher Kalanov.