OOO "Gazprom Teploenergo Volgograd"

Recently, the Russian thermal power market has been developing very dynamically. This is based on such factors as stable economic growth and the predictable political situation in the country. If more than 15 years ago, the supply of modern thermal power equipment to the country was mainly associated with large foreign trade contracts concluded by the state, now we can talk about the existing new infrastructure of modern thermal power engineering in the country, which consists of many enterprises engaged in design, manufacture, supply, installation and operation of the equipment. It can already be firmly said that all this is a market with billions of turnovers per year, which is developing in three directions:

1. This is the construction of modern autonomous sources of heat supply, mainly on the basis of fire-tube boilers. In this sector, there has been a trend towards the use of cogeneration units based on GPUs and GTUs.
2. The construction of autonomous sources for apartment and individual housing (cottages, houses, etc.) is also rapidly developing.
3. Modernization of regional boiler houses with average capacities based on Russian water-tube water-heating and steam boilers. In this direction, the use of a combined cycle for the generation of heat and electricity has also been outlined.

In the first two directions of the thermal power market for the commissioning of new capacities, there is an annual growth associated with the huge demand for thermal energy for newly commissioned multi-apartment housing and the construction of new industrial complex enterprises.

But I still want to touch on the third direction - this is the modernization of district boiler houses for housing and communal services based on Russian water-tube boilers. The generating capacities in this sector, amounting to thousands and thousands of MW throughout the country, are significantly worn out. The lagging housing and communal services market has accelerated with the entry of such large operators and investors as RAO UES - Russian Utility Systems, Integrated Energy Systems, OAO Gazprom in the form of special programs of Mezhregionteploenergo and needs huge investments in the near future. But the arrival of these investments is connected with the reform of housing and communal services, the introduction of new legislative mechanisms, a clear policy, and so on.

The fulfillment of these tasks is becoming increasingly important due to the expected significant rise in the cost of hydrocarbon fuel in the domestic market of the country in the very near future.

In order to implement the strategy of diversifying activities towards a deeper and more economical use of produced natural gas, with the development of the final product of the highest technological stage, Gazprom entered the heat and electricity markets. Energy derived from natural gas is an end product with increased added value, which increases the overall return on assets and increases capitalization.

In November 2003, Gazprom created an all-Russian heat and power holding company, OAO Mezhregionteploenergo, which coordinates Gazprom's efforts in this market sector. Even in difficult economic conditions, Gazprom does not intend to curtail its programs for the development of heat and electric power. Investment projects in this area pay off for quite a long time, but investors receive state support and guaranteed sales - everyone needs light and heat in any financial situation. Therefore, today representatives of Gazprom Teploenergo are carefully studying the prospects and opportunities for the company's work.

All investments allocated for the reconstruction, modernization and new construction of thermal power facilities are primarily aimed at the introduction of gas-saving technologies, since the installation of new modern equipment significantly improves the performance of the facility, in particular, the consumption of natural gas for the production of 1 Gcal of thermal energy.

Without a complete reconstruction of the equipment and proper adjustment of its operating modes, 30-40% of the gas will be flared for nothing. Therefore, both imported and domestic equipment that meets advanced energy-saving standards is installed on boiler houses under construction and reconstruction.

As a result of measures taken in the field of energy saving, the level of efficiency of heat engineering equipment at the facilities of OAO Mezhregionteploenergo exceeds the industry-wide indicators for municipal heat power enterprises by an average of 10–14%.

LLC Gazprom Teploenergo Volgograd is one of 23 thermal regional companies included in the Gazprom Teploenergo holding and engaged in the production and transmission of thermal energy and hot water supply, as well as implementing investment heat and power projects in 21 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. These companies operate their own and leased 724 boiler houses, 194 central heating points and about 2 thousand kilometers of heating networks in two-pipe terms.