Transneft, Konar JV to partner with Rosatom and shipbuilders on electric engines
MOSCOW. July 12 (Interfax) - Russian Electric Motors JSC (RED, Chelyabinsk), a joint venture of Transneft and Konar JSC, is discussing the possibility of cooperation with Rosatom.
"The Russian Electric Motors plant creates not only drives for pumps. Today, as a result of production diversification, together with the Sinara Group, production of drives and motors for locomotives has begun. The first models are already being tested, and in the near future we will begin working on engines for the Sapsan and Lastochka trains. In other words, we are going beyond the oil transportation industry. In addition to the railroad sector, shipbuilders are now interested in our capabilities, and we are establishing cooperation with Rosatom," Transneft chief Nikolai Tokarev said in an interview with Historian magazine.
He also added that as part of import substitution, Transneft has completely switched to the use of a drag-reducing additive of its own production. "For a long time we use an anti-drag additive from American companies, which allowed us to increase oil pumping volumes. Now it is produced by our enterprise in Tatarstan. We fully supply ourselves with this product, and now it is also used by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium," Tokarev said.
Russian Electric Motors was established to produce high-voltage electric motors. The company was established by Transneft together with Konar JSC (51% and 49% of shares respectively) in 2015 with the participation of a technological partner - Italy's Nidec ASI. The enterprise was opened in 2018 and is designed to produce up to 300 electric motors with a capacity of up to 14 MW per year for mainline and booster pumping units (with the possibility of expanding the product range up to 45 MW).
Konar specializes in manufacturing and processing of metal products, production of pipeline valves, general construction works, and shipbuilding. Its main production site is the Stankomash industrial park in Chelyabinsk.
In September 2019, Transneft launched a plant for production of anti-drag additives in the Alabuga special economic zone (SEZ) (Tatarstan). The site is designed for annual output of up to 3,000 tonnes of anti-turbulence additives with the possibility of increasing the capacity to 10,000 tonnes per year. The project was implemented jointly by JSC Transneft-Prikamye (51% stake in charter capital) and the Russian company Nika-Petrotek LLC (49%).