Far East power grids must be upgraded in orderly fashion, without delay - Putin

VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 4 (Interfax) - Power grids in Russia's Far East need upgrading as energy consumption rises, and this must be done without delay, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting on the development of the region's fuel and energy complex.

"The situation in the power grid complex needs special attention. The load on the grids is increasing due to the growth in energy consumption. And it is obvious that this cannot be put off," he said.

"We cannot, to put it mildly, wait until everything there gets into difficulty and we have to put some difficult questions to the Finance Ministry about how everything is in such a state that it is becoming an emergency that needs an urgent response. Let's do everything in an orderly fashion," Putin said.

The grid assets in the Far East are owned by RusHydro . The region joined the pricing zone this year, and the law prohibits combining generation and transmission, so unbundling the grids is being considered. RusHydro management board member Roman Berdnikov told journalists on Thursday that the company considered it would be right to merge its Yakutskenergo and Far Eastern Distribution Grid Company (DRSC) and subsequently spin them off, and is awaiting instructions from the government.

"We have not discussed it [with grid holding Rosseti], because we are awaiting an instruction on who the state will decide to transfer it to. So far, there has been a request to draft a plan of action which is so far is being discussed at the level of the Federal Anti-monopoly Service and the Energy Ministry," the executive said.