Russia Ministry of Energy: Evgeny Grabchak: “A 4.7% increase in electricity consumption is expected in the Volga region in the coming heating season”

Evgeny Grabchak chaired a meeting of the Government Commission for Ensuring the Safety of Power Supply (federal headquarters) to prepare the subjects of the electric power industry of the Volga Federal District for the heating season of 2021-2022.

During the meeting, the Deputy Minister noted that the difficult fire hazard situation this year passed without consequences for consumers thanks to the well-coordinated work of power engineers and the preventive measures taken. “But at the same time, we do not have much time left until the beginning of the autumn-winter period. Here it is necessary to carry out all the measures to restore normal power supply schemes and repairs, which we had to displace due to such unfavorable phenomena, ”he added.

In addition, Evgeny Grabchak drew attention to the dynamics of electricity consumption in the Volga Federal District. “In the coming heating season in the Volga Federal District as a whole, consumption growth is expected to be approximately 4.7%. If we recall the previous year, unfortunately, our electricity consumption in the Volga region decreased the most. But we are already seeing a recovery in demand, ”he said.

The Deputy Minister stressed that the Ministry of Energy of Russia is constantly monitoring the situation with reliable energy supply to consumers and, in this regard, has prepared a number of changes to the regulatory framework that will help to carry out more objective monitoring of preparations for the autumn-winter period. So, for territorial grid organizations (TGO) with objects of voltage level 35 kV and below, an index of reliable functioning has been introduced. It reflects the readiness of the TSO to eliminate the consequences of natural and man-made accidents and will be taken into account when monitoring the risks in the activities of such TSOs.

“In the Penza region, preparations for the heating season are proceeding in accordance with a certain schedule. In 2021, 1 billion 385 million rubles will be allocated to prepare the region for winter. This, including the energy sector – 285 million rubles, in the field of heat supply – 1 billion 100 million rubles. More than 600 boiler houses have been prepared for winter – this is 76% of the total. A fairly large number of dilapidated heat supply networks, electrical networks, water supply networks have been replaced, ”said Oleg Melnichenko, Acting Governor of the Penza Region.