OREANDA-NEWS. On July 05, 2007 the fifth 335-MW hydroelectric generating unit has been brought on line at the Bureyskaya HPP, reported the press-centre of RAO "UES of Russia".

This brings the plant's installed capacity to 1340 MW. The ceremony to launch the new unit was attended by Amurskaya Region Governor Nikolay Kolesov and Vyacheslav Sinyugin, member of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" and Chairman of the Management Board of OAO "HydroWGC".

The project to build the Bureyskaya HPP was started back in the early 1980s, but was suspended in the 1990s due to insufficient funds. In 2000, Anatoly Chubais, Chairman of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia", issued an order to include the Bureyskaya HPP construction project in the RAO UES investment programme as a top priority projects.

The first two power units of the Bureyskaya HPP with the aggregate capacity of 370 MW became operational in 2003. The ceremony to launch the first power unit was attended by Russia's President Vladimir Putin. The third 300 MW hydropower unit came on line in 2004, and the fourth one (335 MW), in 2005.

In 2006, the project management was transferred from RAO "UES of Russia" to OAO "HydroWGC". The investments in the construction of the Bureyskaya HPP over the period totalled in excess of RUB9.6 billion (without taking into account the reservoir bed development project financed by the federal government).

Since its launch in 2003, the Bureyskaya HPP generated over 8,5 billion kWh of cost-effective electricity, which saved over 7 million tonnes of fuel equivalent (coal and fuel oil) for thermal power plants and curb the electricity rates growth in the Far East of Russia.

The resumed construction of the Bureyskaya HPP in 2000 gave a strong impetus to the social and economic development in the Amurskaya Region. More than RUB2 billion in taxes were collected by the regional and local authorities in the course of the plant construction. The region's companies received over RUB600 million in orders related to the project.

The plant's hydropower unit No. 6 is scheduled to be put into operation in Q4 2007. The project is expected to be completed in 2008, with the power plant's capacity reaching 2,000 MW. As a result, the average annual output of the Bureyskaya HPP will rise to 7,1 billion kWh, which represents one fifth of the total electricity output by the energy system in the Russian Far East.