En+, CHN Energy could launch wind turbine project costing 14 bln rubles in Amur region
BLAGOVESCHENSK. Feb 6 (Interfax) - En+ Group and China's CHN Energy are weighing up a project costing 14 billion rubles to build wind turbines in connection with a wind farm that is being built in the region, the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (FEDC) said in an official publication.
Equipment capable of generating 300-350 MW annually, or 50-60 turbines with capacity of about 6 MW, would be produced.
"The wind farm's construction will advance the development and degree of import substitution of the fuel and energy complex of the Amur region and the Russian Federation as a whole. This is a major step towards substituting the import of equipment, components, spare parts and services of foreign companies, and the use of foreign software," said Abdurazak Rzakov, head of the FEDC investment department.
The prospects for building wind turbines and the wind farm itself were discussed during a business mission organized for representatives of CHN Energy and EN+ Group in the city of Blagoveshchensk. The event was a continuation of the working visit by Deputy Russian Prime Minister Yury Trutnev, who is the Russian president's envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, to China.
The investors looked at sites within the Amurskaya priority development territory's Tambovsky and Ivanovsky municipal districts.
The Amur region generates a surplus of electricity with three hydroelectric power stations supplying not only local consumers but also neighboring regions, as well as China. However, the regional government thinks large-scale investment projects will require additional capacity in the medium term.
En+ Group has said it estimates capital investment at 100 billion rubles for what will be Russia's biggest wind farm with capacity of 1,058 GW in the Amur region. It has not said when construction might begin.
En+ Group, the FEDC and Amur Region signed an agreement to cooperate on the construction of the wind farm at the Eastern Economic Forum last autumn. 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.