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Power Plant is Ready Even for the Coldest Winter
2010-09-30
State Energy Inspectorate carried out the inspection of energy equipment at Kaunas Heat and Power Plant and found no facts raising any hazardous or doubtful issues concerning the reliability of heat generation.
Mayor Blows the Fire with Inspectors
The reliability, efficiency and technical safety of electricity, heat, gas, used for fuel, and oil product supply, distribution, transfer, generation and operation equipment of KHPP and power plant manager “Energijos sistemų servisas” (“Energy Systems Service”) was inspected in July by the specialists of the Ministry of Energy, State Energy Inspectorate and “Lietuvos elektrinė”.
This on-the-spot check was initiated after the statements of Kaunas mayor conservative Andrius Kupčinskas, which left the energy specialists in astonishment. In spring the mayor unexpectedly accused the KHPP top management of the default of its investment obligations and declared that the city was at the risk to get frozen during the heating season.
After the receipt of the mayor’s letter, the Ministry of Energy, run by the conservative political party, speeded up in checking the heat generators and “Energijos sistemų servisas” (“Energy Systems Service”).
Statements of No Value
It had happened already then that the energy experts and specialists of the State Energy Inspectorate, who carry out the supervision of energy objects, were shrugging their shoulders in reply to the statements of Mr Kupčinskas. The acting Head of the Inspectorate Vytautas Miškinis diplomatically explained that the decision-making in terms of the technical situation of energy equipment was not the matter of politicians. “Politicians must be respected as politicians but they cannot know everything. It is good when the specialists carry out some sort of a study and make political statements based on that. And when such statements are the result of political ructions or mere gaze out of the window, they are worthless”, stressed Mr Miškinis.
Inspectorate did not have any complaints regarding the technical status of KHPP one and a half year ago also when the integrated power plant inspection had been carried out.
The conclusions of the State Energy Inspectorate state that, with reference to the goals set out in the official letter of the Ministry of Energy, it would be also worth assessing the reliability of heat transfer system equipment at the company Kauno energija.
Power Plant Performance without any Breakdowns
“Last and the one before last winter there were no cases recorded of KHPP going out. Due to the workload the winter is an especially complicated period for such objects, thus, everyone is likely to react in a highly sensitive manner. I can confidently assert that, given the number of complex equipment, length of the pipeline, we should not state that no technical breakdowns could ever happen, nevertheless, we should not be so tragic about it”, was surprised Mr Miškinis because of ungrounded statements of politicians.
From the very moment when the Russian concern GAZPROM acquired the power plant in 2003 there have been no breakdowns or incidents.
Ready for the Heating Season
Being in the stage of preparations for the heating season, on 15th of September KHPP relaunched the electricity and heat generation. From the middle of May the power plant was producing only heat in water boilers.
During summer the repair works of the major energy equipment were completed, as well other necessary works were brought to an end, which was possible only after the shutdown of the power plant.
“Before the coming heating season we managed to complete all the repair works of energy machinery and other necessary works, thus, we can confidently state that KHPP will ensure stable and reliable heat generation to Kaunas consumers despite of how harsh the winter in Lithuania will be”, said KHPP Director for Development Jurij Junevič.
Among the Plans - New Power Plant
Though high investment is introduced into the maintenance of the current power plant, the development of the construction project of the new cogeneration Kaunas Power Plant proceeds at an active pace.
The new Kaunas Power Plan will come into operation after about three years. Electricity, produced in this plant, would lead to cheaper heat for Kaunas inhabitants. Technology of combined cycle gas turbines is highly valued all over the world due to their low environmental pollution level and high energy generation efficiency. A number of such kind of power plants has been constructed not only in the Western Europe but also in the neighbouring Sweden or Latvia.
Kauno elektrinė, which is involved in the construction of the modern cogeneration power plant, has already prepared a detailed plan of the land plot. The new power plant, the electric and thermal capacity of which will reach 280-350 megawatts, will rise in the territory of the current Kaunas Heat and Power Plant. Construction of a new power plant will clear the way to the reduction of heat price by 20 %.
Some time ago, environmental impact assessment report had already been prepared, the permit for the development was obtained from the Ministry of Economy and the study of the cable power connection selection was conducted. The Finnish company “Pöyry Energy”, selected as the consultant and technical supervisor, has already evaluated the conception of the power plant and submitted the report.
The next step is the selection of the general contractor for the construction of power plant. It is expected to attract to Kaunas the best known world energy installation manufacturers, such as “Siemens” (Germany), “Alstom” (France), “Ansaldo” (Italy) and “General Electric” (USA).”Such power plants are distinguished for their most efficient energy generation technology. In order to obtain one kilowatt-hour of energy much less natural gas would be used in comparison to the current equipment. This would lead to a reduced energy production price”, stated Mr Junevič.
© Kauno diena