Russia launched its first domestically produced large-capacity gas turbine-based power unit last week as Moscow develops alternatives to Western technology it can no longer import, Reuters reported.
The new unit at the Udarnaya power plant in southern Russia was inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin via video link on the evening of October 9, in a ceremony broadcast on state television.
"It is very important that we have new production facilities and that we are becoming technologically independent and sovereign, at least in this segment," President Putin said.
Previously, most new power plants in Russia relied mainly on gas turbines made by foreign manufacturers such as Siemens (Germany), GE (USA) and Alstom (France). These manufacturers have left Russia because of the conflict in Ukraine.
For many years, Russia has been trying to start producing its own medium and large-capacity gas turbines for power plants. The turbine installed at Udarnaya, the GTD-110M, was designed and manufactured by the state hi-tech corporation Rostec, along with a replacement turbine produced by the Russian industrial group Power Machines.
“Previously, large-capacity gas turbines were supplied only from abroad, so today's event is doubly important for Russia's energy industry,” said Alexander Pronin, director of Technopromexport, a subsidiary of Rostec that built the power plant.
The new turbine is lighter and more compact than foreign models while having comparable performance, Rostec noted.
With the commissioning of the new unit, the capacity of the Udarnaya plant has increased from 454 to 560 megawatts. The plant will provide 10% of the electricity needed for the surrounding Krasnodar region.
Earlier in 2022, Russia and Germany escalated tensions over the Nord Stream gas pipeline turbines, with each side accusing the other of lying.
In mid-June 2022, Russian gas giant Gazprom reduced gas supplies via Nord Stream to 40% of capacity, as the German company Siemens - the manufacturer of Nord Stream's gas turbines - failed to return the turbines in time after repairs in Canada, due to Ottawa's sanctions against Moscow. After pressure from Berlin, Canada agreed to send the turbines to Germany, and then to Russia.
By the end of July 2022, Gazprom confirmed that it had received documentation on the turbine from Siemens. However, according to the Russian company, the documents did not clarify the sanctions issues and that the delivery of the turbine to Germany constituted a breach of contract.
Meanwhile, Siemens accused Gazprom of lying when it said international sanctions prevented the turbines from being returned from Germany to Russia.
