Repair at Ekibastuz thermal power plant, gasification and modernization of power facilities: The Head of the Ministry of Energy met with the population of Pavlodar region

The Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Almasadam Satkaliyev held a reporting meeting with the population in Ekibastuz on Thursday as part of a working trip to the Pavlodar region.

At the meeting, he told the residents about the timing of modernization and reconstruction of the largest energy facilities in the region, about the course of the repair campaign of the Ekibastuz CHP, preparation for the heating season, as well as about the options under consideration for gasification of the Pavlodar region, answered the residents' questions.

Currently, major projects for the modernization and reconstruction of energy facilities are being implemented in the region.

The project "Restoration of power unit No. 1" is being implemented at Ekibastuz GRES-1, which will increase the capacity of the station to 4,000 MW, the project cost is about 162 billion tenge. The project is expected to be completed at the end of 2023.

Work has also resumed on the construction of 3 power units at Ekibastuz GRES-2, the total cost of the project is about 450 billion tenge. The implementation of the project will increase the capacity of the plant to 1,600 MW in 2026.

The implementation of this project will create about 1400 jobs for the construction period and more than 350 jobs at the operational stage.

As part of the ongoing reconstruction at the Ekibastuz thermal power plant, repair of all 10 boilers (5 steam and 5 hot water) is provided.

According to the Minister, 5 hot-water boilers are being overhauled at the expense of the Government reserve (7.4 billion tenge). Capital and current repairs of 5 steam boilers, as well as auxiliary equipment, buildings and structures are carried out at the expense of CAEC JSC.

"To date, repairs have been completed on power boilers No. 9 and No. 7, repair work continues on 2 power and 5 hot water boilers. The repair campaign is carried out in accordance with the approved schedule, there are no significant delays," A. Satkaliev said.

In general, in the region, preparations for the upcoming heating season are proceeding normally.

Speaking about the gasification of the region, the minister said that two options are being considered: gasification at the expense of own gas resources or at the expense of gas imports from the Russian Federation.

As part of the first option, the possibility of bringing gas from the western regions along the route "Rudny – Astana – Pavlodar – Semey – Ust-Kamenogorsk – Zaisan" is being considered. The cost of the project is estimated at 778 billion tenge. Currently, QazaqGaz is developing a feasibility study for the implementation of this project.

The second option (gas import from the Russian Federation) is being studied jointly with Gazprom PJSC as part of the development of a pre–feasibility study for the construction of the Russian Federation – Republic of Kazakhstan - People's Republic of China gas pipeline. Design work on this gasification option is at the completion stage.

"After receiving the pre-TEO and all the initial data (gas price and contract terms), the optimal gasification option for the north-eastern regions will be worked out," the minister said.