HEAT AND LIGHT WITHOUT INTERRUPTIONS, SUBSIDIARIES OF SAMRUK-ENERGO JSC PREPARED FOR THE WINTER COLD

The current heating season in Almaty and its surroundings is proceeding as planned and does not promise unpleasant surprises for the population. Representatives of the media learned about this during a press tour of the facilities of the Almaty energy complex.
For example, at the Ermensai substation, located in the Karasai district of Zhetysu, the most modern technologies have been introduced, allowing to provide electricity to residents of the southern part of the metropolis, as well as suburban villages, without interruptions. The facility was commissioned in 2010 and is a key link in the energy ring under construction around Almaty. Its main task is the conversion of 220 thousand volts of electricity coming through the networks into 110 and 10 kW and its further distribution to other substations.
We were shown how the latest domestic, German and French equipment installed here works: transformers, complete switchgear, microprocessors, vacuum circuit breakers. The technological process is fully automated and computerized, which eliminates the possibility of an emergency shutdown of the devices. Accordingly, citizens complain less about power outages, and the cost of visits by repair crews has been reduced.
The facility itself is compact, occupies a small area, meets all fire safety standards. It is important that the cable lines are laid deep underground. That is, there are no hanging wires that are dangerous to people’s lives. The cable is made with cross-linked polyethylene insulation, which gives high reliability and safety during operation. According to Nikolay Tushinsky, Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC Alatau Zharyk Companyasy (AZHK), over the past 3 years after the commissioning of the Ermensai, KazGU, Medeu and Shymkent substations, energy supply to consumers has significantly increased, regulatory and technical losses of electricity have decreased.
If current repairs are carried out at existing power facilities every year, then at new ones the first inspection of the equipment is done only 9 years after launch. The contact system is checked only after 25 years, which means that the maintenance costs of the equipment are minimal. Moreover, the staff on duty is not needed here, the dispatcher uses a computer to control the substation from a central board located in another part of the city.
In general, the effect of the large-scale modernization of power plants is obvious: since 2007, 29 substations have been built and repaired in the city and surrounding villages, and the installed transformer capacity has been increased by more than 40%!
The journalists also visited the central control room of JSC “AZHK” – the very heart of the regional power system, where they got acquainted with the work of the operational control panel, the modernized control service. Data is received here in real time from the power plants closest to Almaty and the Moinak HPP. All information about damages in networks and power nodes is being collected, and specialists are immediately taking measures to eliminate them.
The final point of the tour was one of the oldest enterprises in the republic – CHP-1, built in 1935. The facility is located in close proximity to the center of Almaty, provides light and heat to the central and eastern parts of the city. According to experts, the main equipment of the station has already worked out its park resource, and therefore its major reconstruction is planned. With the commissioning of the gas turbine plant, the energy source will completely switch to gas combustion, coal will become a backup fuel. This measure will significantly improve the environmental situation in the metropolis.
However, a lot of work has been done here over the past few years: a boiler room and 4 modern battery tanks for hot water each with a volume of 5 thousand cubic meters have been installed. And the connecting heating main laid between CHP-1 and CHP-2, in the village of Algabas, has reduced the load on the urban facility.
According to Nurlan Mukhamed-Rakhimov, Chairman of the Board of Almaty Electric Power Plants JSC (AlES), reconstruction and expansion of not only CHP-1, but also CHP-2, CHP-3 in the village of Otegen-Batyr, as well as the Cascade of hydroelectric power plants in Karasai district is envisaged. These are new strategic investment projects designed until 2018. Their result will be an increase in production capacities, as well as a comprehensive solution to heat supply issues in the central part of Almaty and the facilities of the Universiade 2017.
The results of the press tour were summed up by Valery Li, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Samruk-Energo JSC. According to him, a repair campaign was successfully carried out this summer, which made it possible to prepare the Almaty energy complex to bear maximum loads in winter. Over 2,000 km of power grids, dozens of boilers, turbines and other units have been repaired. The necessary supply of all types of fuel has been prepared. At the end of October, subsidiaries of Samruk-Energo JSC – AlES and AZHK – received certificates of readiness for the heating season from the State Energy Supervision and Control Committee of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
– Our enterprises approached the peak of the winter cold in full armor, – assured V. Li. – Therefore, Almaty residents do not have to worry: we promise uninterrupted supply of light and heat to their homes. If you remember, a few years ago, power outages due to accidents, breakdowns and equipment wear happened in the city almost every day. But today, a whole network of unique support substations has appeared, which have significantly increased the reliability of the power system. In the coming days, we will put into operation the Besagash substation, which will close the high-voltage ring around Almaty.
According to experts, outdated engineering infrastructure has long remained a barrier to the implementation of major industrial projects.
However, the state has come to understand that it cannot stay away from the problems of the electric power industry, which is the basis for the entire economy. It is no coincidence that in recent years unprecedented amounts of money have been allocated from the state budget for the development of the energy complex. From now on, the key task of Samruk-Energo JSC is to make a technological breakthrough and reach a fundamentally new level of development.
Asset KALYMOV, Almaty region