OREANDA-NEWS. May 25, 2007. A ceremony was held at the Novocherkasskaya TPP (branch of OAO "WGC-6"*) to kick off the construction of a new power unit at the power plant. The foundation laying ceremony was attended by Anatoly Chubais, Management Board Chairman of RAO "UES of Russia"; Vladimir Chub, Rostov Region Governor; Alexander Chikunov, Managing Director of Business Unit No. 1, RAO "UES of Russia"; and Valentin Sanko, Director General of OAO "WGC-6".

The expansion project at the Novocherkasskaya TPP providing for the construction of a new 330 MW power unit is one of the major investment projects of OAO "WGC-6". The project seeks to meet the dramatic increase in demand for electricity in the Southern Federal District.

The new power unit at the Novocherkasskaya TPP will be the first one in Russia to use the advanced circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler technology. The technology will help increase the power unit efficiency to 40 percent even with low-quality coals from the Donetsk Coal Basin in Ukraine as the key fuel. Besides that, the CFB technology helps to save up to 20 percent of fuel and ensure compliance with the environmental safety requirements. The CFB technology makes it possible to burn any rank of coal, which significantly will expand the options available for competitive procurement from various producers and ultimately create the conditions for curbing the electricity and heat tariffs in the region.

The cost of the construction of the new power unit at the Novocherkasskaya TPP is estimated at RUB16 billion. The project will be financed with the proceeds of the issue of additional shares in WGC-6. The new unit is scheduled to go on line in 2011.