Is Russia's power grid crumbling?
RUSSIA - The electrical grid in Russia needs billions of dollars worth of investments during the next decade to modernize the crumbling infrastructure, officials said.
As much as 80 percent of the hydroelectric power plants and more than 60 percent of the thermal energy facilities are in need of maintenance, Russia's Gazeta.ru reports.
In August, two water ducts collapsed at the Sayano-Shushenskaya power station in Siberia, flooding a turbine hall. A fuel tank also ruptured, sending oil into the Yenisei River. Three hydroelectric units were destroyed and seven others were damaged.
Auditors at KPMG said Russia needed at least $500 billion to repair the electric grid, though independent analysts said that sum is not enough.
Yekaterina Tripoten, an analyst at independent financial consulting company Sovlink, said it was unlikely private investments could raise the funds needed to repair and modernize Russia's dilapidated electricity infrastructure.
Related News
Project examines potential for Europe's power grid to increase HVDC Technology
PARIS - A partnership of 14 leading European energy industry companies, research organizations and universities has launched a new project to identify opportunities to increase integration of HVDC technology into the European transmission system.
The HVDC-WISE project, in which the University of Strathclyde is the UK’s only academic partner, is supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme.
The project’s goal is to develop a toolkit for grid developers to evaluate the grid’s performance under extreme conditions and to plan systems to realise the full range of potential benefits from deep integration of HVDC technology into the European transmission system.
…
