To improve energy efficiency: discussion of generation development at Tatarstan Gas and Petrochemical Forum

Milestone forum among regional exhibitions

This year Tatarstan Gas and Petrochemical Forum is dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the foundation of the Tatar ASSR. It is traditionally held under the auspices of Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov. The event recommended itself as an effective site to expand borders of business cooperation between sectoral enterprises both at regional and international level. The opening ceremony of the forum took place with Rustam Minnikanov, Russian Vice Energy Minister Anton Inyutsyn, President of the Union of Oil and Gas Producers Gennady Shmal and Tatarstan Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Albert Karimov.

As Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov noted, the forum is held on the threshold of the days of oil and industry workers. The head of the republic thanked those who participated in the exhibition. This year over 100 expositions from 18 regions have been exhibited at Kazan Expo.

Russian Vice Energy Minister Anton Inyutsyn also congratulated the audience on the opening of the forum and noted that the event had a significant position among regional exhibitions.

“The Fuel and Energy Complex is an advanced sector that drives the economy not only in Tatarstan but also in Russia today. It is the foundation for the development of our state. Moreover, oil and petrochemistry stand out here, and I think the product line that’s made in Tatarstan will be breakthrough in the next years,” Anton Inyutsyn said.

TGC-16 presents accomplishments to Tatarstan president

When looking the forum’s expositions over, the Tatarstan president visited stands of Russia’s leading industrial and energy enterprises. TGC-16 energy company from Tatarstan is among them. It is a part of the production cluster of the Tatarstan republic’s oil and petrochemical complex. Its key aim is reliable and quality energy supply of oil refineries and petrochemical enterprises of TAIF GC and residential microdistricts in Kazan and Nizhnekamsk.

During the presentation of the stand, Director General of TGC-16 JSC Eduard Galeyev told Rustam Minnikhanov about the energy company’s achievements in the last 10 years. The enterprise welcomed the first big jubilee with big successes: thermal energy generation has increased by 40%, electrical energy production has grown by 25%. Eduard Galeyev told the president that thanks to production modernisation brake specific fuel consumption had reduced by 25%. In 2018, the Nizhnekamsk CHPP reached the maximum thermal energy production.

“TGC-16 plants account for over half of the thermal energy market of Tatarstan from a perspective of the amount of heat generation. Last year, TGC-16 power plants’ electrical energy generation totalled 9,3bn kWh. Moreover, the share of combined electrical and thermal energy generation was 75%. Thermal energy generation reached 20,7 million Gcal, while steam generation was at 85%,” said Eduard Galeyev.

In 2018, high-speed clarifiers and elements of the desalination chain were installed in one of the chemical shops at the Nizhnekamsk CHPP-1. If the shop’s productivity in chemically desalinated water was 1,500 t/h, then it rose to 1,900 t/h.

Last year, the energy company allocated over 2 billion rubles for technical rearmament, reconstruction and modernisation as well as technical maintenance and repair of the main equipment, building and facilities. The company completed re-equipment of the second chemical water treatment shop at the Nizhnekamsk CHPP during the same year. Its productivity in chemically desalinated water before the modernisation was 1,430 t/h, after that, it became 1,630 t/h.

Eduard Galeyev clarified that the company would keep reequipping and modernising the main assets of the power plants in 2020 as well. To increase the reliability of equipment, TGC-16 JSC participated in a programme aimed to modernise generating facilities of thermal power plants. As a result of a selection process, steam turbine modernisation projects at the Nizhnekamsk CHPP and Kazan CHPP-3 were chosen for the modernisation programme of generating facilities of thermal power plants at TGC-16 JSC branches in 2025.

Republican GRP’s energy capacity is 0,7% down

The discussion of the topic of development of capacities and energy efficiency went on at a meeting of the Tatarstan government. Albert Karimov summed energy efficiency up for 2019 and set tasks for 2020. He reminded the audience that the state energy-saving and energy efficiency improvement programme in the Republic of Tatarstan was designed from 2014 to 2024.

The energy capacity of gross regional product of the republic reduced by 0,7% compared to 2018. The reduction against 2007 was 24,5%. The technological factor or, more precisely, development and introduction of advanced energy-saving technologies was determined as the key driver of the reduction of energy capacity.

Albert Karimov noted that electrical energy, gas and steam production and distribution accounted for over 70% of consumed resources, processing plants and mineral production did 20%, agriculture — 1,6%, construction and housing utilities — 1,4%, others did 6,3%.

“Energy capacity reduces consecutively, and it has reduced by 1,5% in the last year. Energy capacity has decreased in the light industry, wood processing, the fuel industry and increased in chemistry, petrochemistry and mechanical engineering. This is conditioned by a reduction in the production of goods in these sectors. Situations in enterprises are different,” Albert Karimov said.

He named Vaccummash, Kazanorgsintez, KMPo among the enterprises that improved their energy efficiency.

Generating companies’ brake specific fuel consumption reduced by 9% compared to last year

Albert Karimov separately talked about the energy consumption of energy companies. Tatarstan is first in electrical energy consumption in Volga Federal Okrug. It ranks ninth among Russian regions in this indicator. Consumption totalled 30,6bn kWh in 2019. Moreover, 28,9bn kWh was generated.

It has become possible to reduce the amount of electrical energy supplied from outside the republic in the last two years. If in 2017 this indicator reached over 7 billion kWh, it became possible to reduce the shortage of electrical energy in the republic thanks to a more effective load of plants in 2018-2019.

The pandemic also played a role in power engineering, as there is a decline in production in the first half. This affected electrical energy production. It reduced by 11% in the first half, though electrical energy consumption fell only by 5%. The reduction totalled about 6% according to the Unified Energy System of Russia.

As the Tatarstan minister of industry and trade noted, generation shows positive dynamics in energy efficiency. Brake specific fuel consumption reduced by 9% compared to last year. The Kazan CHPP-3 and Kazan CHPP-1 were the most effective in reducing brake specific fuel consumption in 2019. The upgrade of the republic’s generating capacities will go on to increase the plants’ energy efficiency.

“Four big power plants have been modernised in the last six years, which has allowed increasing the capacities of the energy system by 1,2 GW. The most important task is to implement big projects: it is the modernisation of the Zainsk Hydro Power Plant, which will officially kick off these days. It is planned to build an 850 MW steam and gas turbine at the Zainsk power plant,” Albert Karimov said.

He also enumerated projects on the upgrade of generating capacities in the power delivery contract programme: the Kazan CHPP-2 will upgrade capacities by 62 MW, Nizhnekamsk CHPP-2 — by 155 MW, Kazan CHPP-3 — by 50 MW, Nizhnekamsk CHPP — by 267 MW. “These projects need to be implemented effectively according to power delivery contract commitments,” Albert Karimov added.

Last three districts

According to the minister, there was a small growth of energy capacity in agriculture, by 3,2% in 2019 compared to the previous period. Growth of harvest will also cause a rise in energy consumption, the speaker warned. Albert Karimov noted that over 12,000 street lights were replaced for energy-saving ones in public utilities, which decreased energy consumption by 7,5% in general.

Educational establishments showed the best results in the public sphere. The minister urged sports establishments that have a higher number of brake specific energy and water consumption to catch up. Municipalities mainly have a reduction in heating (by 14%) and water (by 26%) in the first half of the year. Meters and energy service contracts help to reduce electrical energy consumption. The contracts were signed for 1,5bn rubles from 2014 to 2019, which allowed saving 34 million rubles. The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour as well as Zelenodolsk and Leninogorsk Districts among the municipalities are leaders in this indicator.

The head of the ministry noted a more effective performance of Almetyevsk, Baltasi, Muslyumovo Districts. While Yelabuga, Menzelinsk, Drozhzhanov Districts have things to improve, according to Karimov, they have high energy consumption here (that exceeds the republic’s average consumption by 20%, 35% and 62% respectively).

Chain of LNG stations across the country to appear

Albert Karimov thinks that it is necessary to keep developing alternative energy sources that are becoming more popular in Europe, introduce smart meters, expand the application of gas fuel, energy service contracts. The head of the ministry drew his colleagues’ attention to the fact that key public spending offices in their subordinate establishments must carry out an audit and develop a methodology to reduce energy consumption for the next three years until 30 September.

Vice Industry Minister Timur Samatov said that over 5,5 billion rubles had been saved, about 9,000 cars had been purchasing within a 10-year programme of gas fuel use that has been implemented since 2013. According to him, it is planned to build an LNG plant in Naberezhnye Chelny in 2021 with about 11bn rubles of funding. 10bn rubles of this sum is extra-budgetary money. The republic plans to spend 378m rubles on this project and ask the federal treasury for 521m rubles. This will give a development impetus to plants in Alabuga Special Economic Zone and KAMAZ lorry mogul.

“Every new station is additional demand for 30 new KAMAZ lorries. If we create 500 new stations in 5 years, the additional order for KAMAZ lorries will be up to 15,000 lorries,” noted Russian Vice Minister of Energy Anton Inyutsyn who supports the LNG programme.

He stressed that Russian Premier Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree to subsidise the LNG station programme that will be published soon: it is planned to create a chain of such filling stations on key transport routes in Russia.

Liquefied gas where “it is unprofitable to lay a pipe”

Rustam Minnikhanov also noted the importance of energy efficiency for the industry at the meeting. According to him, GRP’s energy capacity has been reducing by at least 1% every year in the last four years. This doesn’t correspond to the republic’s possibilities. The president tasked the audience with analysing the situation in all sectors, consider the topic of low-efficient boilers, switch to combined generation. He also offered to develop individual heating where it was possible.

The head of the republic also reminded the audience that in 2011-2014 regions were provided with federal money to cofinance energy efficiency programmes. He asked the vice federal minister to consider such a possibility again.

It is necessary to use mechanisms of energy service contracts more actively, thinks the head of the republic. They are signed only in 22 municipalities. Rustam Minnikhanov made a remark to Naberezhnye Chelny in this respect. He noted that Tatarstan has just 28% of LED lamps street lights — the republic is just 21^st in Russia.

After thanking the federal Ministry of Industry and Trade for its support for the modernisation of the Zainsk Hydro Power Plant, the president of the republic paid attention to the fact that the Naberezhnye Chelny CHPP needed to be upgraded. Moreover, the head of Tatarstan stressed that it was necessary to more actively use smart energy metering and consumption systems that can save heat consumption depending on the temperature of the air and install gas sensors that help avoid emergencies.

Rustam Minnikhanov noted that in some cases municipalities allocate parcels of land without considering protected areas of electrical energy facilities: “Land parcels are allocated, houses are built, and then these people suffer... It is necessary to fight this practice harshly”

“We do nothing so far when it comes to e-cars. It is necessary to envisage charging stations for e-cars in new houses. If they appear, people will start purchasing e-cars step by step. Anyway, cars are 60%-70% of the environmental impact. It is necessary to switch to hybrid, gas fuel,” says the Tatarstan president, he also thinks that Euro 5 and Euro 6 can save big cities from harmful emissions.”

What is more, Rustam Minnikhanov thinks that liquefied natural gas is a promising area not only for cars abut also small settlements, garden associations, camps — the facilities where it is “unprofitable to lay a pipe”. It is convenient and environmentally friendly for long distances.

The meeting ended with an award ceremony of the members of the Fuel and Energy Complex. They were given commendations and certificates from the Russian ministry of energy for their contribution to the development of the Fuel and Energy Complex. Companies also received an award for using energy-efficient equipment and technology.

Generating enterprises’ successful activity also deserved the attention of the Tatarstan Ministry of Industry and Trade. The branch of TGC-16 JSC Kazan CHPP-3 was awarded a certificate in the nomination Energy Efficiency as Development Strategy for its active participation in the state policy on energy efficiency and improvement of energy efficiency in the Republic of Tatarstan.