RusHydro’s thermal power plant in Artyom started large-scale use of ash for land reclamation

October 11, 2023

As part of its business programme, the Russian Energy Week held a roundtable ‘Russia and China: The Ash and Slag Route’. Dmitry Belyaev, Director of RusHydro’s Strategic Transactions Department, presented RusHydro’s largest reclamation project using TPP ash.

For many years, soil from the Silinsky quarry in Primorye was used for backfilling and building up dams of ash dumps at Artyom TPP. To rehabilitate the quarry, RusHydro has developed a project based on the use of ash from the power plant. Its implementation will allow solving the issues of both releasing the capacity of ash dumps and land restoration.

In 2023, 273 thousand tonnes of ash from Artyom TPP will be used for reclamation of the Silinsky quarry, which is equal to its annual output. In general, the project is planned to use more than 2.5 million tonnes of ash in several stages. After biological revegetation of the quarry, it will be transferred to municipal ownership.

“Silinsky quarry reclamation is RusHydro’s largest ash project. We hope to scale it up to similar facilities in the Far East: quarries, landfills and solid waste disposal sites. Ash is a cheap and accessible material that is ready to be loaded onto transport and used. RusHydro will definitely share its experience with colleagues at one of the next meetings of the Ash Union,” Dmitry Belyaev said during the roundtable.

RusHydro is a hydropower company, but it also has a significant amount of thermal generation assets in its structure. The company is working intensively to convert thermal power plants to natural gas combustion, while coal-fired plants in the Far Eastern Federal District produce up to 1.8 million tonnes of ash annually.

The Company is implementing a whole range of measures for large-tonnage utilization of ash. In 2021–2023, 155 thousand tonnes of ash from Blagoveshchensk TPP, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk TPP-1 and Maysky SDPP were shipped to customers, mainly aerated concrete producers. In addition, the ash is actively used for the company’s own needs in the implementation of various projects, including environmental projects.

The Russian Energy Week International Forum is a key global platform for discussing current trends in the development of the modern fuel and energy sector. This event is traditionally held at the highest level, featuring the participation of leaders from the largest companies in the energy industry. In 2022, more than 70 events, with the involvement of over 270 speakers, were held as part of REW. The Forum attracted over 3,000 participants and media representatives from Russia, as well as 83 foreign countries and territories. The Forum is organized by the Roscongress Foundation and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, with the support of the Moscow City Government.

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