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Vladimir Putin took part in the ceremony of launching the Mayakovskaya and Talakhovskaya thermal power plants in the Kaliningrad Region as part of his working trip to the region. The ceremony was held as a videoconference during the President’s visit to the Mayakovskaya Thermal Power Plant.

After the ceremony, the President acquainted himself with the plant’s work, and was told about the features of the energy system in the Kaliningrad Region and the significance of the newly added generating capacity.

According to the President, the new thermal power plants will not only provide power to the entire region but also create some reserve for the future.

The Mayakovskaya and Talakhovskaya thermal power plants are located in eastern Kaliningrad Region, in Gusev and Sovetsk respectively. The plants were built in record-breaking time to cover peak demand and make energy supply in the region more stable.

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Ceremony of launching the Mayakovskaya and Talakhovskaya thermal power plants

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends and colleagues,

Today, here, at the Mayakovskaya Thermal Power Plant in Kaliningrad, we are in fact launching two energy facilities: the Mayakovskaya and Talakhovskaya thermal power plants; and in the near future we will launch the Pregolskaya and Primorskaya thermal power plants as well.

After the launch of the other two plants, power generation capacity in the Kaliningrad Region will double, providing not only stable energy supply, even into the future, but also ensuring certain reserve capacities in the event of any unforeseen technological difficulties.

You know that we are also actively working on provision of gas supply, by which I mean the liquefied natural gas supply and increasing the volume of the stored gas.

In general, this is very interesting, large-scale work, and I would also like to make special mention of the fact that all the equipment, almost everything we can see here, was produced in Russia. The cooperation is very broad, uniting all Russian regions.

I would like to thank everyone for this work, everyone who participated, and congratulate you all on this occasion.

The floor is given to Boris Kovalchuk, Chairman of the Management Board of Inter RAO

Boris Kovalchuk: Mr President, colleagues,

The construction of the Mayakovskaya Thermal Power Plant in the city of Gusev and the Talakhovskaya Thermal Power Plant in the city of Sovetsk was carried out in accordance with the President’s instruction to ensure reliable power supply to the Kaliningrad energy system when operating in isolated mode.

With these two new power plants, the installed capacity of the Kaliningrad energy system will increase from 950 megawatts to 1,262 megawatts, an increase of over 30 percent.

The new plants are highly manoeuvrable and are designed to cover peak demand, as well as to support the operation of the power system in the event of any incidents or accidents at other power facilities in the region.

The stations meet all requirements for the environment, reliability, safety and efficiency of electric power generation. I would like to note that the efficiency of the plants is 36 percent. This is a high figure for gas turbine plants operating in a simple gas combustion cycle.

The President spoke about equipment suppliers. Indeed, Rosneftegaz together with Inter RAO made a corporate decision to involve domestic producers. For example, the gas turbine was produced in the Yaroslavl Region, the generator was manufactured in Novosibirsk, the block transformer was made in Yekaterinburg, and elements of the open switchgear were produced in the Pskov Region. We involved a design institute from Ivanovo and found contractors directly in the Kaliningrad Region and Kurgan. This once again was an important signal for us in the industry that Russian power engineering is at a high level and is capable of performing complex tasks in a very short period of time.

The total cost of the plant was 25 billion rubles without VAT, the construction period from the moment of first arriving on site was 18 months. This is also quite a short time. For reference: this is six months less than the standard deadlines established in the Russian Federation for the construction of such facilities.

Mr President, two power plants have been built and are ready to be put into operation.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Kovalchuk, you mentioned the efficiency of the Mayakovskaya and Talakhovskaya TPPs. What will the efficiency be at Primorskaya?

Boris Kovalchuk: The Primorskaya TPP uses coal. Its efficiency will be 35 percent. This efficiency is high for small- and medium-capacity coal-fired plants.

Vladimir Putin: I understand that this is the reserve capacity?

Boris Kovalchuk: Yes, that is correct. We keep this as a backup power source at the request of the local residents.

Vladimir Putin: What is the efficiency at the third, anchor plant?

Boris Kovalchuk: The Pregolskaya TPP, which will operate in base mode, will have an efficiency of 51–52 percent.

Vladimir Putin: That is, one-third more than at Mayakovskaya?

Boris Kovalchuk: That is correct, Mr President.

Vladimir Putin: Why is this?

Boris Kovalchuk: It uses steam and gas cycle technology. First, Primorskaya is using coal for fuel, and Pregolskaya is using natural gas.

Natural gas fuel is burned in a gas turbine, and then, once it has passed the gas turbine, the temperatures of the outgoing gases are about 500–600 degrees Celsius.

The outgoing gases are sent to a special device called a waste heat boiler rather than a stack, or the atmosphere. In the boiler, hot exhaust gases heat the water converting it into steam, thus generating additional electricity, so the efficiency is higher.

You cannot do this with coal. Once coal burns it leaves ashes which cannot be re-used for industrial heating.

Vladimir Putin: Very well, then.

Boris Kovalchuk: These are just different technical cycles. Along with the Energy Ministry, we prepared and selected plants that use different technical cycles, partly to hedge…

Vladimir Putin: The risks.

Boris Kovalchuk: The risks that we understand.

Vladimir Putin: Congratulations. Go ahead.

Construction manager at Mayakovskaya TPP Oleg Astanin joins the videoconference.

Oleg Astanin: Mr President,

The construction of the Mayakovskaya TPP with two Russian-made gas turbine units with a unit capacity of 78 megawatts has been completed. The total installed capacity of the Mayakovskaya TPP is 156 megawatts. The plant is ready to go. This concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Construction manager at the Talakhovskaya TPP Nikolai Denisov joins the videoconference.

Nikolai Denisov: Mr President,

The construction of the Talakhovskaya TPP with two Russian-made gas turbine units with a unit capacity of 78 megawatts has been completed. The total installed capacity of the Talakhovskaya TPP is 156 megawatts. The plant is ready to go. That concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you, Mr Denisov.

Boris Kovalchuk: Mr President,

The construction of Mayakovskaya TPP and Talakhovskaya TPPs has been completed. The units are ready to generate and send electricity to the grid. May I begin the commissioning?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, go ahead.

Boris Kovalchuk: Attention personnel at the Mayakovskaya Thermal Power Plant, and the personnel at the Talakhovskaya Thermal Power Plant. Begin the start-up.

Mayakovskaya and Talakhovskaya TPPs begin power ascension.

Boris Kovalchuk: Mr President,

Two new thermal power plants – the Mayakovskaya TPP in the town of Gusev and Talakhovskaya TPP in the town of Sovetsk totalling four power units – have been commissioned.

Vladimir Putin: Once again, congratulations to everyone who worked on these projects – the workers, engineers, and specialists of all levels and areas. I wish you every success and all the best. Thank you.