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