Oil exports to China regularly decline due to power supply failures in Kuzbass
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As Kommersant found out, Transneft regularly reduces the volume of oil pumped to China due to failures in the power grids of Kuzbass, which lead to an emergency shutdown of the pumps at the company’s oil pumping station. The reason for the failures is an increase in the load on the power grid due to an increase in transportation volumes along the Eastern range of Russian Railways. According to analysts, responsibility for failures in Transneft’s power supply lies with network workers. However, Rosseti believes that railway workers should solve the problem. The situation may worsen with further expansion of the Eastern test site, Transneft fears.
Kommersant got acquainted with Transneft’s review of the project “Schemes and programs for the development of Russian energy systems” (published on November 1). The company reported that the volume of oil pumped to China is regularly reduced due to constant failures in the power grids of Kuzbass. Due to problems with power supply, the electric motors of the pumps at the Mariinskaya oil pumping station (OPS), from where oil flows towards the port of Kozmino (Primorsky Territory), are systematically switched off. In 2020–2022, there were 17 outages, due to which pumping volumes fell by 17.43 thousand tons of oil. Over the nine months of 2023, there were 24 outages, and pumping volumes decreased by 17.57 thousand tons.
A Kommersant source explains that the oil transportation company cannot reduce the total volume of oil supplies under the contract. As a result, Transneft, after forced downtime, has to increase the volume of pumping during a period of stable electricity supply, which increases the company’s costs, he says. For nine months of 2023, according to Kommersant, pumping towards the port of Kozmino amounted to about 31.6 million tons of oil.
Failures in the power grids of Kuzbass occur due to “low quality of electricity coming from the external network,” says Transneft in its response. Electricity supply to the Mariinskaya PS goes through the 110 kV Novo-Anzherskaya-Achinsk power transit, which belongs to Rosseti. The reason for the violation of power supply parameters in this section, follows from the review of Transneft, is an increase in traffic volumes on the railways of Russian Railways and an increase in single-phase traction load.
Transneft held meetings with Russian Railways and Rosseti, but they did not take any measures to improve the quality of electricity. The final list of measures, the meeting participants argued, can be established “only after complex R&D and development work has been carried out.”
Transneft fears that the problems will increase: further expansion of the Eastern Polygon will lead to an increase in the load on the traction substations of the Krasnoyarsk Railway by at least 70 MW, the company said in its appeal. Transneft told Kommersant that they are discussing the issue and are looking for a joint solution with the management of Russian Railways and Kuzbass.
Rosseti, as follows from the company’s response, believes that the issue should first of all be resolved by Russian Railways. The company told Kommersant that according to current legislation, consumers who introduce distortions into the network must independently install special balancing devices at traction substations. Rosseti adds that “sensitive consumers” should also implement equipment to reduce the impact of distortions on the operation of their electrical installations. Rosseti, the company claims, ensures the required levels of reliability and quality of electricity, and also installs distortion compensation devices. The state holding is currently working to increase consumer responsibility for levels of distortion.
The issue of power supply to the Mariinskaya PS was considered in September by the Ministry of Energy, Russian Railways OJSC told Kommersant. It was noted there that “deviations in the quality of electricity arise in the conditions of separation of the 110 kV network of PJSC Rosseti Sibir, which is a forced mode of operation of the power system in emergency or repair situations.” According to JSC Russian Railways, Transneft should conduct an additional assessment of the quality of electricity in the Novo-Anzherskaya-Achinskaya energy transit, including determining the impact of the reactive load of the NPS on it.
The System Operator (energy system dispatcher) assured Kommersant that the necessary measures aimed at increasing the reliability of the energy system, under the control of the Ministry of Energy, have been “collected into a schedule.” The issue of approving the schedule, as well as implementing specific measures in the next one to two years, is now being decided. The Ministry of Energy did not answer Kommersant.
The grid company is responsible for the quality of electricity to the consumer – this is part of the rules for the provision of transmission services and a basic condition when concluding an agreement, says Sergei Sasim, director of the Center for Electric Power Research at the Higher School of Economics. If the violation is related to the actions of third parties, the network company has the right to file a claim against them and demand compensation for losses through the court.
Current tariff legislation only provides for the possibility of taking into account the frequency and duration of interruptions in power supply to consumers, as well as the quality of work in the field of technological connection, clarifies Sergei Sasim. In his opinion, the responsibility of network organizations for the quality of electricity and reliability of energy supply requires “more noticeable consideration in tariff regulation, which is especially important in the context of the government’s intention to give the largest electricity grid companies the status of system-forming ones, making them the center of responsibility for the quality and reliability of electricity transmission services.”
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