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 Preparation is Evolving Rapidly

 

Kaunas City Mayor Andrius Kupčinskas began to speak of the alleged failure to meet investment obligations and even of the imminent freezing during the coming winter.

“We do not refrain from the plans to build a new power plant. Despite the failure to get the municipal support for undefined reasons, the power plant will be constructed anyway. Any heat economy related issues should be resolved, firstly, with reference to consumer interests”, was the answer of the Head of KHPP Antanas Pranculis.

Kaunas Power Plant, which is implementing the construction project of the new power plant, has already completed the preliminary works; at the end of the summer the international contract competition for the construction of a power plant in the capacity of 350 megawatts will be called. Its operation is planned to start from 2013.

Preliminary works are evolving rapidly. Recently, the Finnish company “Pöyry Finland”, which is the consultant and technical supervisor of the power plant construction, prepared the report for the assessment of the power plant conception; detailed planning procedures of the land plot are being carried out and intensive negotiations with project sponsors are taking place.

“Technologies of the new power plant will be much more efficient than the current ones. Heat produced there will get cheaper to Kaunas residents as a result of lower fuel costs”, explained Mr Pranculis.

Construction project of Kaunas power plant is considered to be of great priority and highly significant to the Lithuanian energy sector and was included into the National Energy Strategy three years ago.

 

 

Up to 2013, before the start of the new power plant, KHPP should keep on with reliable heat supply to Kaunas. Energy experts have no doubt that this power plant is capable of ensuring steady heat generation for four years.

Both the energy specialists and the specialist of the State Energy Inspectorate, which takes care of the supervision of energy objects, remained astonished of Mr Kupčinskas’s statement that Kaunas would face the threat of freezing during the coming heating season due to investment default of KHPP.

State energy Inspectorate under the Ministry of Energy has not expressed any objections as regards the technical status of KHPP. The complex inspection of KHPP by the experts of the Inspectorate was last held one year ago.

“Last winter and the one before the last there were no cases of KHPP turning off. Due to overload in winter, it is a complicated period for such objects, thus, everyone is likely to react in a really sensible manner. Taking on the responsibility, I can declare that with reference to the quantity of complex equipment, length of the pipes, it goes without saying that technical accidents are likely to happen anytime, but let us not make a tragedy out of it”, stated Vytautas Miškinis, the Chief of the State Energy Inspectorate.

Since 2003, when the Russian concern GAZPROM purchased the power plant, it had not recorded any accidents or incidents.

“Politicians should be respected as politicians, but they cannot be aware of all the things. It is pretty good if specialists complete some sort of a study and, on the basis of it, ground their political statements. Instead, when statements are predetermined by a political fight or just done after giving a look through the window, then such declarations are not worth the trouble”, emphasized Mr Miškinis.

 

 

Current accusations of some Kaunas politicians that KHPP is not investing relate to older agreements that appear to be in the whirlpool of legal disputes.

Agreement on the construction of the new power plant was signed seven years ago when Kaunas Heat and Power Plant was privatized. Upon the purchase of the power plant the new owners took the obligation to invest 400 million litas into the modernization and construction of an additional electrical block in the capacity of 60-80 megawatts.

In summer 2007 KHPP conducted a feasibility study of power plant capacities. It was found out that the investment decisions, planned for 2002-2005, to expand the production capacities of the power plant and invest into the modernization of the old power plant appeared to be irrational from the economic and technical points of view just as to Kaunas itself, to Kaunas City or the entire Lithuanian energy system.

Due to the above reasons KHPP started preparing for the amendments to the investment agreements leading to renunciation of the modernization of the old power plant and adjustment for the construction of a new cogeneration power plant within the territory of Kaunas Heat and Power Plant.

 

 

“Kaunas government supports the Finnish project regarding the waste and biofuel incineration boiler room, which would only partially resolve the heating problems of the city. The power plant of such capacity would not be sufficient to provide heat to the major part of the city, let alone the entire city. The proposed Kaunas Power Plant is an excellent idea because the city is not capable to build an object of such capacity on its own resources. It may be discussed whether such power plant or a more powerful one is needed, but city representatives should start serious negotiations instead of focusing on disputes at court”, was confident academician Jurgis Vilemas.

In 2016 the European Union will introduce the new smoke control requirements. The current power plant will not be able to meet such regulations. Should the construction of the new project get delayed, we may find ourselves in a situation where, due to legal issues, the operation of the old power plant will become invalid.

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