Ekibastuz-1 power station

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Ekibastuz-1 power station (ТОО "Экибастузская ГРЭС-1") is an operating power station of at least 3500-megawatts (MW) in Ekibastuz, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Ekibastuz-1 power station Ekibastuz, Ekibastuz, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan 51.886137, 75.376928 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 4, Unit 5, Unit 6, Unit 7, Unit 8: 51.886137, 75.376928

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 1 mothballed coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1980
Unit 2 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1980
Unit 3 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1981
Unit 4 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1981
Unit 5 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1982
Unit 6 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1983
Unit 7 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1983
Unit 8 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1984

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner
Unit 1 Ekibastuz GRES-1 LLP [100.0%]
Unit 2 Ekibastuz GRES-1 LLP [100.0%]
Unit 3 Ekibastuz GRES-1 LLP [100.0%]
Unit 4 Ekibastuz GRES-1 LLP [100.0%]
Unit 5 Ekibastuz GRES-1 LLP [100.0%]
Unit 6 Ekibastuz GRES-1 LLP [100.0%]
Unit 7 Ekibastuz GRES-1 LLP [100.0%]
Unit 8 Ekibastuz GRES-1 LLP [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

  • Coal source(s): Ekibastuz coal basin

Background

History & ownership

The power plant is the largest in Kazakhstan.

Most of the units at the Ekibastuz-1 power station were launched into service in the early 1980s. In January 1996, due to mismanagement and disrepair, the capacity of the station dropped from 1,624 to 1,025 MW, and further dropped to 655 MW by June 1996. Work at the station became hazardous: the equipment was not maintained, most of the control and emergency handling instrumentation was stolen from the power station. The units had to be frequently stopped because of break downs.[1]

From 1996 until 2008, the power station was owned by United States-based AES Corporation. By November 1997, only three units were operational, producing 800 MW on average. In the spring of 1998, all units except one were idle. The customers owed the power station about US$150 million of unpaid tariffs. In 1999, the average produced power was 215 MW. In 2000, it was increased to 317 MW after much needed repairs. As a result, the power station's generating capacity was increased from 1,050 to 1,200 MW, but the problem of finding paying customers still resulted in low production levels.[1]

On February 4, 2008, AES agreed to sell the AES Ekibastuz power station to Kazakhmys. Under the terms of the management agreement, AES continued to operate the station until December 2010.[2] Kazakhmys secured a US$2.1 billion loan to finance its purchase of the power station. The loan was provided by a consortium of 18 banks.[3]

On December 10, 2009, Kazakhmys PLC announced that it would be selling a 50% stake in the power station to the National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna for US$681 million. The transaction was completed in early 2010. In the first five years following the transaction, Kazakhmys would appoint the management team while Samruk-Kazyna would appoint several key oversight positions. Over the next seven years, the parties pledged to provide investments of around $1 billion at Ekibastuz to upgrade the power station and restore it from its current capacity of 2,500 MW to its original nameplate capacity of 4,000 MW.[4]

In 2014, Kazakhmys sold the other 50% stake in the company to Samruk-Energy for USD 1.25 billion. Later Samruk-Kazyna transferred its 50% stake to Samruk-Energy, completing the process for Samruk-Energy to be 100% shareholder in Ekibastuz-1.[5]

Modernization

The power station is undergoing modernization projects and claims to be a leader among power generating enterprises.[6] Three units were reported to be inactive since the 1990s. Unit 2 was brought back into operation in 2014 and Unit 8 in 2012, possibly after modernization.[7]

In June 2010, a pair of contracts were announced with Emerson Electric Company to refurbish many of the control systems on units 3 through 8. It was estimated this effort would take 5 years to complete and would increase the efficiency of the affected units at the power station.[8]

Unit 1

As of May 2021, work was underway to install electrostatic precipitators at Unit 1. Unit 1 was partially dismantled[9] and was not operating while it was being modernized.[7][10] The implementation of the project and commissioning of the reconstructed Unit 1 was expected to increase the plant's capacity by 550 MW (up to 4,050 MW) and to significantly reduce environmental impacts through modern ash and slag removal technologies. The cost of the project was estimated at 123.7 billion tenge and was expected to be complete in 2023.[11] Additionally, as of November 2021, modernization of units 3-8 was planned for 2028-2035 and was expected to increase the plant's capacity by a further 240 MW.[10]

The plant's installed capacity was reported to be 3,500 MW in 2019-2021, as per Samruk's Energy annual reports.[12] Capacity reduced from 4,000 MW to 3,500 MW during 2018, according to earlier company's annual reports, as Unit 1 was being refurbished.[13] As of December 2022, Samruk-Energo's website stated that Unit 1's modernization will be completed by 2024 which will allow to reach the design capacity of 4000MW (not 4,050MW) and to meet increasing demand in Kazakhstan as well as in the neighbouring countries.[14]

In January 2023 a press release by Samruk-Energo stated that the completion of construction and commissioning of the 500MW Unit 1 is scheduled for December 2023.[15] In early December 2023, a media source reported that re-commissioning of Unit 1 has been postponed to 2024.[16]

Generation

The plant is the largest producer of electricity in Kazakhstan. It generated 19,466 million kWh of electricity in 2020, 22,788 million kWh in 2021.[12] In 2022 electricity generation reached 23,019 million kWh.[17]

Pollution rating

The government decree from April 2022 ranked the Ekibastuz GRES-1 as Number 1 in the list of the main polluters in Kazakhstan as of 2021. The government decree comes into force from 2025.[18] It is not clear what the purpose of the ranking is.

In June 2022 it was reported that the power plant was fined 33 billion tenge (ca USD 69 million) for non-compliance with carbon emissions quota established for 2018-2020, the plant exceeded allowed emissions by 2 million tons of CO2.[19]

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "AES Экибастуз: из истории" (AES Ekibastuz: history), archived August 1, 2008 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "AESrus" defined multiple times with different content
  2. "AES to sell interests in Kazakhstan power plant," PennWell Corporation, Power Engineering, February 5, 2008
  3. Ekibastuz Power Plant Acquisition 2008, IJGlobal, Apr. 30, 2020
  4. "Kazakhmys Plc completion of sale of 50% stake in Ekibastuz power plant to Samruk-Kazyna," Kazakhmys, archive dated November 3, 2010
  5. "Экибастузская ГРЭС-1 полностью перешла в собственность «Самрук-Энерго»". matritca.kz. April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. "Экибастузская ГРЭС-1 стала лидером среди энергопроизводящих предприятий," Khabar, December 18, 2020
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Спрос на электроэнергию подтолкнул нацкомпанию к ускорению". Kapital.kz. Sep 15, 2021. Retrieved Nov 10, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. "Emerson chosen to modernize controls at Ekibastuz GRES-1, largest thermal power plant in Kazakhstan," Emerson Electric Company, Electric Net, June 9, 2010
  9. "Мощность Экибастузских ГРЭС увеличится на 1136 мвт". pavlodartv.zk. Sep 16, 2021. Retrieved Nov 10, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. 10.0 10.1 "На Экибастузской ГРЭС-1 восстанавливают энергоблок на 500 МВт". Samruk Energy. Retrieved Nov 10, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. "Экибастузская ГРЭС-1 увеличит мощность на 550 МВт - до 4050 МВт," Energy Land, May 31, 2021
  12. 12.0 12.1 Samruk Energy. "2021 Annual Report (p18)" (PDF). Retrieved December 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. Samruk Energy. "2018 Annual Report (p 38)" (PDF). samruk-energy.kz. Retrieved December 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. "ТОО «Экибастузская ГРЭС-1»". samruk-energy.kz. Retrieved December 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. "В Алматы обсудили энергетические проекты". www.samruk-energy.kz. January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. "Когда запустят энергоблок №1 Экибастузской ГРЭС-1". kz.kursiv.media. December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. "Как регулирование майнинга сказалось на энергосистеме Казахстана". https://kz.kursiv.media/. April 2023. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. "Об утверждении перечня пятидесяти объектов I категории, наиболее крупных по суммарным выбросам загрязняющих веществ в окружающую среду на 1 января 2021 года". adilet.zan.kz. April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. "Экибастузская ГРЭС-1 оштрафована на 33,3 млрд тенге". kapital.kz. June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.