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From Global Energy Monitor

Sample Erkovetskaya power station


Erkovetskaya power station (Ерковецкая ТЭС and Yerkovetskaya) is a shelved power station in Erkovetsky coal mine, Russia. It is also known as Yerkovetskaya.


Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Erkovetskaya power station Erkovetsky coal mine, Russia 50.3160, 128.4470 (approximate)

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

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1: 50.316, 128.447
  • Unit 1: 50.316, 128.447


Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology CHP[1] Start year Retired year
Unit 1 shelved coal - lignite 1000 MW - - - -
Unit 1 shelved[2][3] gas[2][3] 1000 MW[2][3] - no[2] - -

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Operator Owner Parent
Unit 1 - State Grid Corporation of China; JSC Eastern Energy Co[unknown%] JSC Eastern Energy Co; State Grid Corporation of China[unknown%]
Unit 1 - JSC INTER RAO-Electric Power Generation[unknown%][2][4] PJSC Inter RAO[unknown%]

Project-level coal details

  • Coal source: Erkovetsky coal mine

Financing

Source of financing: Vnesheconombank (VEB)[5], Chinese development banks[6] (proposed in 2015-2018)

Background

The plant has most recently been proposed to operate on natural gas instead. There have not been any developments related to this project since February 2020 and this project appears to be shelved.[7]

8,000-MW Coal Proposal

In 2013, a framework agreement was signed between Inter RAO (owned by the Russian government) and State Grid Corporation of China (owned by the Chinese government) calling for Russia to hugely expand its power generation capacity in eastern Russia, for export to China.[8]

In February 2014, the two companies proposed an 8-gigawatt coal-fired power plant in Amur Province, to be powered by coal from the Erkovetsky (Yerkovetskaya) lignite coal mine, less than 100 km from the border with China. The plant's capacity would be comparable to the total existing generation capacity of all of Russia's Far East. 2,000 km of transmission lines would need to be constructed to feed the plant's power into the Beijing grid.[8] Financing would likely come from China. China's Huaneng Group may also join the project.[9]

In February 2015, SGCC stated that the plant's cost would be $15 billion. The Russian energy minister stated that the goal was to begin construction on the first stage of the plant by late 2015 or early 2016, and to finish the first stage by the end of 2019.[10] The size of individual stages of the plant is unclear.

In October 2015, with the project's proposed cost having risen from $15 billion to $20-25 billion, Inter RAO was seeking tax concessions from the Russian government in order to ensure the project's profitability. According to an Inter RAO executive, Chinese development banks would provide at least 70% of project finance.[6]

In August 2016, it was reported that Russia and China are exploring the possibility of signing agreements between SGCC and Inter RAO to cooperate on the project. Inter RAO Boris Kovalchuk had told journalists in April that the company was not satisfied with China's proposal for price terms, and that price would be the key factor in determining the future of the US$20-25 billion project. Eastern Energy Company (the subsidiary of Inter RAO, responsible for exports to China and Mongolia) would export 30-50 billion kWh per year of the power station's output to China, up to 5% of the total Russian output.[11]

In June 2017 it was reported that the project (both the mine and plant) had been suspended "due to a decline in China's electricity consumption against the background of the economic crisis."[12]

4,000-MW Coal Proposal

In May 2018, the project was revived, but at a smaller scale: 4,000 MW. The project would still be built by a consortium of Inter RAO and SGCC, and would now cost $10 billion. State lender Vnesheconombank has signed an agreement in principle with Inter RAO to provide funding for the project.[13][5]

1,000-MW Gas Proposal

In the 2018 Inter Rao annual report the project is described as a 1 x 1,000 MW plant using coal from the Yerkovetsky coal deposit.[14] In March 2020 it was reported that Inter RAO was studying whether to build the project to be fired by gas instead of coal.[15][7] In February 2020, it was reported that the Chinese energy demand is questionable, while regional cities in Russia already have sufficient electricity supply and would not need an additional power station at this point.[7]

As of April 2023, there have not been any developments related to this project since February 2020 and this project appears to be shelved.[7]

The project was NOT mentioned in the Government decree 'General Scheme for Allocation of Power Assets' from 2017[16] or in the the revisions to the decree from November 2021 and December 2022.[17][18]


Articles and Resources

References

  1. CHP = Combined Heat and Power
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "«Интер РАО» превращает уголь в газ". February 29, 2020. Archived from the original on May 26, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Russia Mulls Switching 1GW Coal Plant to Gas". Retrieved January 20, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ref_2
  5. 5.0 5.1 Россия и Китай вернулись к проекту крупнейшей угольной электростанции, RBC, 29 May 2018.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "Интер РАО" ждет обнуления налогов, Kommersant, 9 Oct. 2015.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "«Интер РАО» превращает уголь в газ". Kommersant. Feb 29, 2020. Retrieved Dec 23, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. 8.0 8.1 China and Russia to build world’s biggest thermal power plant, RT, 12 Feb. 2014.
  9. Russia's Inter RAO may supply China by building coal-fired power plant, China Daily, 28 May 2014.
  10. Электроэнергетический проект России и Китая может быть запущен в 2019 году, Tribuna, 6 Feb. 2015.
  11. "Забайкалье добавит Китаю мощности," East Russia, Aug 10, 2016
  12. "«Интер РАО» и SGCC приостановили Ерковецкий проект стоимостью более 20 млрд долл из-за спада энергопотребления в КНР," Big Power Electric, June 23, 2017
  13. "Russia, China revive joint TPP project," Energo CEE/FSU Power Monitor, Issue 913, 7 June 2018, p. 9.
  14. Annual Report, InterRAO, 2018, 69
  15. RUSSIA MULLS SWITCHING 1GW COAL PLANT TO GAS, Natural Gas News, Mar. 2, 2020
  16. "ГЕНЕРАЛЬНАЯ СХЕМА размещения объектов электроэнергетики до 2035 года" (PDF). policy.asiapacificenergy.org. 2017. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 18 (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. "Распоряжение Правительства РФ от 25.11.2021 N 3320-р <О внесении изменений в распоряжение Правительства РФ от 09.06.2017 N 1209-р". legalacts.ru. 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. "Изменения, которые вносятся в Генеральную схему размещения объектов электроэнергетики, утвержденную 9 июня 2017". government.ru. December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Additional data

To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datases, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.