OREANDA-NEWS. E.ON and METRO have completed an additional energy project in Russia. A new E.ON power plant will provide heat and power for the METRO superstore that originally opened in 2007 in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia's fifth largest city. The industrial city of Nizhny Novgorod is home to 1.2 million residents and lies along the Volga some 400 kilometer east of Moscow. The 7500 square meters METRO cash & carry superstore is now largely independent of the grid – while also reducing both its CO2 emissions and its energy costs by up to 20 percent.

This new project is of symbolic importance for E.ON's headquarters in Essen – because Essen and Nizhny Novgorod have been sister cities since 1991.

E.ON initially took on project development and financing and has now taken on the responsibility for operating the facility. "Using this combined heat-and-power plant, the superstore is able to generate its own supply of reliable, economical and environmentally friendly power and heat, with E.ON handling overall management," says Olaf Schulze, who is responsible for energy management at METRO.

Both METRO and E.ON place a high priority on climate protection and an efficient, economical supply of energy. This is E.ON's second project in Russia. Prior to this, E.ON put in place an independent energy system for the industrial park in Noginsk. An additional project for METRO is now nearing completion: Within this month the METRO store in Ivanovo will be converted to an efficient energy system.