OREANDA-NEWS. July 13, 2010. The Order of the Government of the Republic of Karelia approved the Program for power engineering perspective development in the Republic of Karelia through 2015.

The Program was elaborated by a working group established for this purpose in October, 2009 and comprising officials of the economic block of executive authorities of the RK, heads and experts of the grid and generating companies, experts of the Karelian regional dispatching management. As a result, there has been drawn a document defining power engineering strategy of the republic for the next five years.

The main goal of the Program is to define perspective development of the grid infrastructure and generating capacities, to provide long-term and intermediate term demand for electric energy, to create stable and favorable conditions for mobilization of investments into economy of the republic. The Program contains detailed analysis of the existing situation in electric power industry of the republic, characteristics of power facilities are provided there, the structure of development and consumption of thermal and electric energy is analysed, features and problems of the current condition of electric power industry which may constrain development of economy are pointed out.

The Program contains basic directions of electric power industry development in the Republic of Karelia and the list of the core energy objects to be constructed or reconstructed.

Due to implementation of large projects in territory of the republic in the following years planned growth of power consumption in 2015 in comparison with 2010 will make 115%. Therefore, in territory of the republic of is planned to construct a transit highway from Louhi to Petrozavodsk through Ondskaya hydroelectric power station; minihydro power plants in Sortavala and Kalevala regions, Segozerskaya hydroelectric power station in Segezha region. It is stipulated to reconstruct fifteen and construct three new substations in regions of the republic.

Total capital investments are expected make more than 15 billion roubles.