Inter RAO starts constructing Novolenskaya TPP, plans to invest 257 bln rubles

MOSCOW. Aug 30 (Interfax) - Inter RAO has started construction on a 550-MW thermal power plant for the Bodaibo energy hub, an Interfax correspondent reported from the launch ceremony.

Inter RAO plans to invest 257 billion rubles in the project, excluding VAT.

Three separate 185-MW power units will be installed at the station as part of the steam turbine unit, with Ural Turbine Works supplying the turbines and Power Machines supplying the generators.

The station is scheduled for commissioning on July 1, 2028.

The company has specified that it will deliver energy to the Eastern area of the railways, as well as "ensure active development of the mineral resource base in the south of the Sakha Republic, including to the Sukhoi Log gold deposit."

The TPP will operate on natural gas, and there are plans to build around 200 km of gas pipelines as part of the project. Fuel will come from the Srednebotuobinskoye field [Alrosa ]. Alrosa CEO Pavel Marinychev has specified that, "supplies from the Srednebotuobinskoye field will increase many times over" owing to the energy project.

It became known in August last year that Inter RAO would build a generation facility in the Bodaibo District of the Irkutsk Region for the second stage of the Eastern area.

A competition was initially held for constructing power generation in the region, though not one application was submitted for the bidding.

Inter RAO has registered an enterprise for implementing the project to construct the power plant in the Bodaibo energy hub. Novolenskaya TPP LLC was registered on February 17 in Lensk, the Sakha Republic, according to the Unified State Registry of Legal Entities (USRLE). The founders were JSC Inter RAO-Power Generation (99.9%) and Aktiv-Energia LLC (0.1%), as owned by Inter RAO-Capital and Inter RAO-Procurement Management Center. Novolenskaya TPP LLC's charter capital totals 100 million rubles.