En+ puts cost of 1 GW wind farm in Amur Region at 100 bln rubles
BLAGOVESCHENSK. Jan 24 (Interfax) - En+ Group estimates that capital expenditures on a project to build Russia's largest wind farm in Amur Region will total 100 billion rubles, but has not yet said when construction will start.
The wind farm project is at the stage of discussions with the region about its status and measures that will ensure its cost efficiency, the Russian aluminum and electricity group said in a statement.
There are plans to raise some of the 100 billion rubles needed to build the wind farm, which will have capacity of 1.058 GW, from Chinese banks.
"The Far East is currently developing at an accelerated pace and our objective, as a power company, is to ensure an adequate level of power supplies for new consumers. I'm confident that our close cooperation will make it possible to implement the project of the largest wind farm in Russia. The construction of the wind power plant will give a push to the development of renewable energy and industry in the Far East," En+ CEO Mikhail Khardikov was quoted as saying in the statement.
Amur Region Governor Vasily Orlov said in the course of discussions on the project that, in terms of using renewable energy sources, the region is promising for construction of both solar and wind power facilities.
"By number of sunny days and duration of daylight, Far Eastern territories far exceed the European part of the country. We are just starting to take advantage of this advantage [by] building the first solar farms in the region. Thanks to cooperation with En+ and Chinese partners we hope to realize the region's potential in the area of wind energy," Orlov said.
En+ Group, the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (FEDC) and Amur Region signed an agreement to cooperate on the construction of the wind farm at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) last fall. En+ also signed an agreement with the China Energy Investment Corporation. The cost of the project was estimated at 60 billion rubles at the time.