General Electric stopped servicing gas turbines in Russia without explanation
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As Kommersant expected, the American General Electric (GE) stopped servicing gas turbines in the Russian Federation on June 19 after the introduction of extended US sanctions. The company, according to Kommersant’s sources, has closed access to the monitoring system, and in the future it may stop the supply of original spare parts, including blades. Repairs and replacement of components are most critical for the most powerful turbines, including the only H-class machine in the Russian Federation at Kazan CHPP-3.
The American GE on June 19 “without explanation” stopped servicing gas turbines at Russian thermal power plants, Kommersant’s sources in generating companies told Kommersant. According to them, the company closed access to the system for monitoring the operation of turbines from the Russian Federation. GE stopped work after the entry into force of extended US sanctions that prohibit American organizations from providing engineering services to any person in the Russian Federation (see “Kommersant” dated June 19).
The termination of cooperation within the framework of the concluded service contracts, according to Kommersant’s interlocutors, will also close the supply of original spare parts for GE and Alstom turbines (part of GE since 2015). However, the EU and the US have not yet imposed direct sanctions on the supply of components for gas turbines to the Russian Federation, including critical spare parts for the hot path. GE did not provide comment.
The total capacity of GE gas turbines in the Russian energy system is about 5 GW, and the total capacity of power units based on such turbines reaches 8 GW. Service stoppage, including repairs, inspections and replacement of parts, is most critical for the most powerful H- and F-class models. For example, at the power units of Surgutskaya GRES-2 and Shaturskaya GRES (Unipro) there are 9FA turbines, at Sredneuralskaya GRES (EL5-Energo, formerly Enel Russia) – a 9FB turbine.
The American H-class turbine is presented in the Russian Federation in a single copy at the power unit of the Kazan CHPP-3 with a capacity of 405 MW (TGC-16, part of TAIF). A new gas turbine unit (GTU) on the 9HA0.1 machine of the station was launched in 2017. At that time, the turbine was the second in the world in the H-class line. GE installed the first such turbine in France. Kommersant sent a request to TGK-16 and TAIF.
Turbine 9H belongs to the class of the most modern and sophisticated gas turbines of the latest generation, says independent analyst Yuri Melnikov. Russian gas turbine manufacturers have no plans to master this bar – it is not available to them. The Kazan energy system can be provided with electricity from neighboring regions, he believes.
“The current situation did not become a shock: the decision to completely stop cooperation on the part of Western colleagues is expected,” Kommersant was told at T Plus. “The company is still provided with the necessary spare parts, but is considering the possibility of localizing production and service.” Unipro says they are studying the issue. EL5-Energo did not give any comments. Inter RAO told Kommersant that Russian Gas Turbines (RGT, JV Inter RAO and GE) is localizing the production of spare parts for GE turbines and providing services under already concluded contracts. The RGT report for 2022 noted that the company will no longer localize the production of the large GT13E2 turbine, but still plans to achieve a localization level of 90% of the 6F.03 turbine in 2027.
The capacity of power units with imported turbines of various brands in the Russian Federation is estimated at 25 GW. The share of their production in the country is 17%. Combined-cycle plants have higher efficiency and lower fuel consumption, which means that their production is cheaper. The impact of a hypothetical shutdown of such blocks on prices will differ from energy district to energy district, says Sergey Rozhenko from Kept. In some cases, there may even be a short-term decline in Day Ahead Market (DAM) prices as the controller turns on more steam power units to provide control range. Such a regime, although it leads to a possible decrease in the price of the DAM at the moment, leads to a decrease in marginality or losses in generation, which in the medium term will lead to an increase in prices. The real impact on price indices with a complete shutdown of CCGT can range from minus 10% to plus 25% to the wholesale price, the analyst notes.
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