Modernization of CHPP-2 RusHydro in Vladivostok may require more than 66 billion rubles
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As Kommersant found out, the cost of modernizing the Vladivostok CHPP-2 RusHydro (MOEX: HYDR) has almost tripled in five years, exceeding 66 billion rubles. Moreover, the current price, according to preliminary calculations, turned out to be almost a third higher than the updated maximum typical costs. The main reasons for the increase in the cost of the project are the need to completely replace the main building of the thermal power plant and old boilers, RusHydro assures. The industry, whose payments will pay for the facility, wants to see transparent explanations for the increase in costs and proposes to co-finance the project from the budget and the state holding.
“Kommersant” was able to get acquainted with the presentation of “RusHydro” on the current cost parameters of the modernization of the Vladivostok CHPP-2. The document was presented to market participants at a meeting in the state holding on November 27, 2023.
According to the presentation, the final cost of the project (three blocks of 360 MW) amounted to about 66.3 billion rubles. (without VAT). The figure has almost tripled compared to the investment justification stage (OBIN) in 2019–2020, when the project was estimated at 22.04 billion rubles.
The power units of Vladivostok CHPP-2 (497 MW) were launched in 1970–1984. In 2021, the modernization of three power units began. RusHydro will recoup its investments through increased payments for capacity. The basic yield level will be 12.5% with an OFZ rate of 8.5%. The first power unit was supposed to begin supplying power on January 1, 2024, but certification tests of the facility have not yet been carried out, the System Operator (power system dispatcher) told Kommersant. Two more blocks should be operational in 2028.
The current price is 66.3 billion rubles. turned out to be 28% higher than the maximum typical costs for modernization (“modernization calculator”), it follows from the minutes of the meeting (“Kommersant saw it”). “According to the preliminary assessment of the Market Council (regulator of energy markets.— “Kommersant”), the estimated capital costs for the implementation of the project are about 46.7 billion rubles,” the document says.
The Market Council told Kommersant that they did not give such assessments at the meeting. RusHydro did not provide any explanation. The Kommersant source notes that the calculations were routinely made in mid-autumn 2023, based on the preliminary parameters of the calculator, which were relevant at that time, but could currently change. The Market Council clarified to Kommersant that the “modernization calculator” is still under development, it will be ready approximately in the second quarter of this year.
Judging by the presentation of RusHydro, the most significant increase – almost seven times – was the cost of work on the main building of CHPP-2, reaching 3.85 billion rubles. The cost of replacing boilers almost tripled – to 11.34 billion rubles. The cost of replacing three turbine units and installing auxiliary equipment increased 1.7 times, to 24.71 billion rubles. The minutes of the meeting specify that in the total cost of boilers and turbines presented in the presentation, the company included the costs of dismantling old and installing new equipment, as well as costs for the supply and installation of auxiliary systems.
A separate problem for RusHydro was the search for labor in the Far East, as follows from the minutes of the meeting. There are 1.2 thousand workers at the site, of which 1.1 thousand are brought from other regions of the Russian Federation, a representative of the state holding noted at the meeting. It is because of this, according to his version, that the company increased business travel expenses by 1.77 billion rubles.
RusHydro explained to Kommersant that the cost of the project has increased, among other things, due to the need to completely replace the main building of the thermal power plant, as well as worn-out eight boiler units – with three new high-power boilers. OBIN was developed without taking these circumstances into account. Moreover, the state holding will exclude from the price part of the measures to replace electrical equipment. RusHydro emphasized that in July 2023 they received a positive conclusion from Glavgosexpertiza on the estimated part of the project: “This cost was included in the investment program approved in December 2023 by order of the Ministry of Energy.”
The Ministry of Energy told Kommersant that they are considering the materials submitted by RusHydro on the Vladivostok CHPP-2 project, “both the technical validity of the proposed measures and the compliance of the presented materials with the requirements of current regulations are being assessed.” Upon completion of the assessment, the issue of determining technical and economic parameters, including prices, will be submitted to a meeting of the government commission on electricity, the ministry clarified.
The capacity of the new power units will be paid for by commercial consumers throughout the country, but mainly in the European part of the Russian Federation, the Urals and Siberia. “Not only are consumers required to pay the costs of construction and renewal of generation, the transparency and price justification of these costs is far from absolute,” the Energy Consumers Community (a lobby of industrial consumers) told Kommersant. “The high cost of projects implemented by the state-owned company by decision regulator, it is logical to co-finance from the company’s own funds or state support mechanisms from budget sources.”
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