OREANDA-NEWS. The Board of RAO UES approved the strategic approach to implementing the project designed to increase electricity exports from Russia to China.

The strategy envisages stepwise increase in electricity exports to China by expanding generation capacity in the Russian Far East.

During the first stage of the project, which is slated to start in 2008, RAO "UES of Russia" will supply 3.6-4.5 billion kWh of electricity to China annually. A 145 km 500 kV transmission line will be built to connect the East IES and the Heilongjiang province in the North-East of China.

During the second phase, which is expected to start by 2012, electricity exports will grow by 18 billion kWh. For that purpose, two HPPs with the combined capacity of 3,600 MW will be built in the vicinity of the existing open-pit coal mines.

During the third phase, electricity deliveries to China will further increase by 38 billion kWh. To that end, it is planned to build several coal-based power plants with the aggregate capacity of 7,200 MW. In addition, RAO "UES of Russia" will explore the possibility of exporting the electricity generated by the newly-built HPPs. Russia's exports to China will ultimately reach 60 billion kWh annually.

The Board of Directors of RAO "UES of Russia" approved the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary, OAO "Eastern Energy Company", which will implement the project.