In December 2003, the EBRD granted a $75 million loan to Uralkali. According to the company's plan, most of the loan is targeted on the development of its own power supply network.
In 2005, Uralkali will begin the first stage. The company plans to construct the 25MW- power stations at the Berizniki Ore Development Units numbers 1 and 4. Each power station will be equipped with two gas turbine generators running on natural gas and utilizing boilers. The general contractor is UralVNIIPIEnergoprom based in the city of Yekaterinburg. The German company Siemens supplied the gas-turbine power plants.
According to Yury Kortashiov, the chief electro-power engineer at Uralkali, the performance attributes of the Siemens' gas turbine Cyclone (GTS-400), with the power of 12.9 MW, most closely met Uralkali's requirements. Its power coefficient of efficiency is 34 percent. Moreover, the thermal energy produced will be used in the production of potassium chloride. The main purpose of the project is to build new capacity into the power grid and engineering infrastructure, which already exist in the ore development units of Uralkali.
Sergei Dyakov, technical director at Uralkali said they had considered five companies as potential suppliers of the new equipment but they had chosen Siemens because. "The turbine GTS 400 excels its competitors in both technical resources and efficiency coefficient," he said. The construction work is due to start in the spring of 2005, and the power stations will start producing electricity in the summer of 2006. Dyakov has estimated that the project should pay for itself in 6 or 7 years.
In the second stage of the electro-generation development, it is planned to construct power stations to supply electricity to the Berizniki Ore Development Units 2 and 3.
The general director of Uralkali, Maxim Bakshinsky said that generating its own electricity would enable the company to reduce the thermal and electricity expenses significantly. This will result in a major reduction in production costs. The energy component of production is currently 12 percent of Uralkali's total costs.
"After successful completion of the project, Uralkali will supply 85 percent of its required electrical power and 100 percent of its thermal requirements. This means that the company has chosen the perfect strategy to maximize effectiveness and maintain its competitive edge, enabling it to stay in the lead of the global potassium fertilizer market," Bakshinsky said.
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