Unipro sees General Electric refuse to service CCGT power units in 2023 - annual report

MOSCOW. May 29 (Interfax) - PJSC Unipro in 2023 saw General Electric refuse to service the combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power units at the Surgutsky GRES-2 and Shatursky GRES regional power stations, respectively, the power-generating company said in its draft annual report.

"Unipro in 2023 ran into the refusal on the part of the contractor, General Electric, to fulfill its obligations to service the CCGT power units," the company said.

"In order to maintain the operability of the power units, the company has created its own Center for Repair and Technical Re-equipment of CCGT Power Units. The center's specialists for the first time at the end of 2023 independently carried out a technical and engineering assessment of the condition of gas turbines at Surgutskaya GRES-2, and extended the operations until the scheduled full-scale inspection," according to the annual report.

Unipro conducted operations "to search for and select alternative contractors to refurbish spare parts available in the warehouse, as well as to repair equipment to the extent stipulated in the full-scale inspection procedure."

Consequently, "the production of spare parts and expendable materials previously imported from abroad has been organized at domestic enterprises as part of re-engineering. This ensured a high degree of preparedness for the full-scale inspection of the No. 7 CCGT power unit at Shaturskaya GRES in 2024, and laid the groundwork for conducting similar operations at the No. 7 and No. 8 CCGT power units at Surgutsky GRES-2 in 2025," the company said.

The Kommersant daily, citing sources at power generating companies, previously reported that GE on June 19 last year ceased servicing gas turbines in Russia. Kommersant said that, "The company has closed access to the system for monitoring turbine operations from the Russian Federation."

Unipro owns five thermal power plants in the Russian Federation with total capacity of 11,275 MW. Germany's Uniper energy holding owns 83.73% of the company's shares, which Russia's Federal Property Management Agency (Rosimuschestvo) has managed since April 2023. Uniper last spring said that it effectively had not been able to exercise operational control over the Russian asset since the end of 2022.