OREANDA-NEWS  Eight new hydroelectric power plants and six hydroelectric power plants can be built in Russia, Director of the Department of Electric Power Development of the Ministry of Energy Andrey Maksimov said at Atomexpo-2022.

"Eight HPP projects and six HPP projects are what is currently being worked out and will definitely be implemented," he said.

Last year, the Ministry of Energy announced the need for the Russian energy sector to have at least 5 gigawatts of PSPP capacity from 2035 to 2050. "We believe that we can no longer tolerate this (their absence - IF). There are approximately sites. We believe that this (should be done - IF) for 2035, in the area of 2035-2050," said the head of the Ministry Nikolay Shulginov.

He noted that "I would like it to be faster," but the department understands "the price of the issue and the impact on the market."

It was then about the first price zone and the sites that had already been investigated. Shulginov explained that there are "no sites in Siberia yet, but the task has been set."

As previously reported, Zagorskaya PSPP-2 should be launched in the foreseeable future. RusHydro built this station with a capacity of 840 MW under a power supply agreement. The first stage of construction was to be completed in 2013, the second in 2014. But in 2013, an accident occurred at the power plant - as a result of soil erosion, the station building was drained, the engine room and the landing site were flooded.

In 2008-2013, RusHydro managed to spend about 70 billion rubles on construction. The company received insurance payments for the accident in the amount of 8.2 billion rubles, and 5 billion rubles are provided for the restoration of the station in the investment program for 2017-2021.

It is assumed that RusHydro will present plans for the restoration process of this PSPP in 2022, and its launch is scheduled for January 2024.