Inter RAO Electric Power Plants Announces Operating Results for the first six months of 2020

JSC Inter RAO – Electric Power Plants announces operating results for the first six months of 2020.

*Including JSC Nizhnevartovskaya SDPP, as well as Mayakovskaya TPP, Talakhovskaya TPP and Pregolskaya TPP in the Kaliningrad region

Power generation by enterprises of JSC Inter RAO — Electric Power Plants in the reporting period amounted to 34.2 billion kWh, having decreased by 26.1% compared to 2019. The change in the indicator is due to a decrease in electricity consumption in the UES of Russia by 2.8% (3.4% without taking into account the impact of an additional day in the leap year), associated with the outside air temperature exceeding the long-term averages in the first quarter, a decline in business activity against the background of restrictions imposed to halt COVID-19 spread in the second quarter; and significant growth in the volume of electricity generated by HPP (growth by 22.0% compared to the same period in 2019) in connection with the high-water hydrological situation and a significant drop in prices in the competitive electricity market caused by the above factors, as well as decommissioning of inefficient equipment of the Kashirskaya SDPP.

The most significant decrease in electricity output was recorded at the Kostromskaya, Permskaya and Gusinoozyorskaya SDPPs. The decrease was caused by wide fluctuations in load, which depends on the actual supply and demand balance within the power system as a whole, as well as operating restrictions in individual energy hubs, with electricity use for heat generation making only a small contribution to the total load. Given these circumstances, in the course of load reduction in the power system amid a sharp fall in electricity consumption, these power plants were given priority over nuclear, hydro and combined heat and power plants.

The installed capacity utilization factor of JSC Inter RAO — Electric Power Plants decreased to 36.17%.

In H1 2020, the installed power plant capacity of JSC Inter RAO – Electric Power Plants decreased by 4.3% compared with the same period of 2019 and amounted to 21.6 GW (in 2019 – 22.6 GW). This indicator was influenced by several factors:

• decommissioning of inefficient equipment of three power units at the Kashirskaya SDPP totaling 900 MW on January 1, 2020, as well as decommissioning of power unit 7 with a capacity of 80 MW on May 1, 2020;
• decommissioning of hydroelectric unit No. 2 of the Iriklinskaya HPP with the capacity of 7.5 MW on May 1, 2020;
• increased installed capacity of Pregolskaya TPP (+7.8 MW), Mayakovskaya TPP (+2.9 MW) and Talakhovskaya TPP (+2.1 MW) due to recertification.

As a part of the maintenance routine in H1 2020, the Inter RAO – Electric Power Plants and JSC Nizhnevartovskaya SDPP completed 18 repairs of power units (total power generation capacity of 6 784 MW), 19 repairs of turbo generators (total power generation capacity of 1 993 MW), and 16 repairs of boiler units (total steam generating capacity of 3 607 t/h).

In H1 2020, heat distribution by power plants of JSC Inter RAO – Electric Power Plants decreased by 1.7% in comparison with the corresponding period of the previous year and amounted to 2 498.8 thousand Gcal. The reduction in the heat output is due to the temperature factor.

Power and heat generation by Inter RAO – Electric Power Plants in H1 2020

The fuel mix of JSC Inter RAO – Electric Power Plants changed insignificantly: the share of natural gas decreased from 84.28% in H1 2019 to 81.21% in H1 2020, the share of coal increased from 15.57% to 18.53%, the share of fuel oil amounted to 0.26% (in H1 2019 – 0.15%). A reduction in the share of natural gas was a one-off event; it was due to the fact that amid a fall in electricity consumption the company opted for a more considerable load reduction at its gas-fired power plants, primarily the Kostromskaya and Permskaya SDPPs.