All-Russian Conference on Preparations by Electric Power Organizations for the Autumn/Winter Period 2017–2018 held during Russian Energy Week
6 October, Moscow. – Russian Minister of Energy and Chairman of the Government Commission for Ensuring the Security of Electric Power Supply (Federal Staff) Alexander Novak chaired the All-Russian Conference on Preparations by Electric Power Organizations for the Autumn/Winter Period 2017–2018.
The minister noted that the preparation of electric power facilities for the autumn-winter period is the most important set of measures in the annual work cycle. “The priority objective of power engineers is to ensure uninterrupted power and heat supply in difficult weather conditions, and the most important objective of the Ministry of Energy is to ensure electric power industry organizations prepare for and safely get through the autumn and winter periods”, Novak said.
Novak said that the Russian Ministry of Energy has projected the energy and fuel balance as well as approved fuel stock standards for 274 electric power facilities. “At present, the overall available fuel reserves at power facilities exceed the established standards”, he said.
Starting in 2018, companies’ readiness to operate during the autumn and winter season will be assessed based on a risk-oriented model without conducting on-site inspections. “This year, we are testing this methodology and identifying the main factors affecting the final readiness index based on the results. Such factors include the failure to comply with the operational requirements of generating equipment and dispatching technological control systems as well as the unsatisfactory technical condition of individual pieces of equipment”, Novak said.
The implementation of measures in the regions with high risks of power supply disruption is constantly being monitored, Novak said.
According to forecasts, electricity consumption by Russia’s Unified Energy System in the coming autumn and winter period will amount to 579.2 billion kWh (an increase of 1.8%), and production will grow by 1.5% compared with the actual indicators of past autumn and winter periods. The increase in these indicators is due to economic growth and population growth.
Novak also commented on the accident rate: “The overall number of accidents in power generation and in the power grid is decreasing. Since 2014, the total number of accidents has fallen by 13% in power generation and by 16% in the power grid”.
In conclusion, Novak said that starting this year the Ministry of Energy has begun keeping statistics and analysing the reliability indicators of grid companies. “As part of monitoring more than 1,500 grid companies, it was found that the actual reliability indicators of more than 200 organizations exceed the established standards. Both small local grid organizations and large regional grid companies were included in the lists of such companies”, he said.
