The customer is the administrative office of the president of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev.

The IDGC of North-West's General Director Alexander Kukhmay, within the limits of a one-day business trip to the Novgorod region, has taken part in the ceremony of start-up of the "Yuzhnaya" 35 kV substation, and has visited a number of energy facilities of the Novgorodenergo branch of IDGC of North-West on Valdai.

According to the head of the united grid company, the contract between IDGC of North-West and the administrative office of the president of the Russian Federation will take place one of these days. The administrative office acts as the customer for operations at the "Valdai" 35 kV substation, which provides electricity to a quick developing recreational tourist zone. Today large-scale works for construction and reconstruction of the base supervised by the administrative office of the president are carried out, and the customer needs higher reliability of electricity supply.

Besides, the operating substation "Valdai" which has been exploited since the end of the sixties and has been never reconstructed, also provides electric power to some other socially significant objects of the district which today is especially attractive for development of tourism, rest and country construction. Therefore reconstruction of the substation is highly relevant for development of the Valdai infrastructure.

Together with the Novgorodenergo's Director Vladimir Chistyakov, Chief Engineer Igor Yakimov, and other heads and experts of the branch, the IDGC of North-West's General Director personally checked up the condition of the substation, talked to the personnel and made an entry in the journal of visits.

"We have already a concrete customer for this object, which means that we have a real source of financing. Therefore after signing the contract we are ready to start preparation of the project and launch a part of works for reconstruction already this year," Alexander Kukhmay said. "Hereafter, considering the importance of the object, we do not exclude an opportunity of carrying out overhaul reconstruction and translation of the "Valdai" 35 kV substation to another voltage class -110 kV.”

According to the tentative estimations of experts, expenses for full reconstruction of the "Valdai" substation and its translation to another voltage class may cost around RUR 400 million, and the term of stage-by-stage work may appear to be from one and a half to three years. But if the object gets in the investment program under the condition of inclusion of expenses in the tariff for electric power transmission, the term of reconstruction may be considerably reduced, the company reported.

The same day Alexander Kukhmay visited the "Yachsherovo" 35 kV substation in the Valdai area which was started up after the last-year's reconstruction. The substation of modular type "Yashcherovo" was executed with application of modern technologies and use of home-made equipment which does not require daily maintenance by the personnel.

The investments into the energy facility equaled RUR 109 million rubles. The substation is equipped with two 1.6 MW transformers and vacuum circuit breakers. The energy facility is equipped with the system of video observation with a lead-out to the dispatching board of the "Novgorodenergo’s" industrial branch "Valdai Electric Networks". The devices of relay protection were monitored, which allows the energy facility for remote operation of equipment.

The technology of construction of the substation excludes access of extraneous persons to the live equipment that raises its electrical safety.

"Today everybody is afraid of the crisis, but we continue to commission new objects. Thus we prove that we must not stop production because of the crisis. We must continue to work, develop and improve the energy system of the Novgorod region," Director of "Novgorodenergo" Vladimir Chistyakov said opening the "Yachsherovo" substation last year.

The "Novgorodenergo’s" management confirms their intentions by concrete actions. The IDGC of North-West's General Director Alexander Kukhmay, during his business trip, publicly named the Novgorod branch of the united company the leader of new construction.

At the end of his business visit to the Novgorod region, Alexander Kukhmay has visited the Valdai Iverskiy Svyatoozerskiy Bogoroditskiy Monastery where he had a short conversation with the Dean of the monastery Father Efrem. These days the monastery completes preparations for meeting the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Cyril who arrives on the occasion of celebrating the 1150th anniversary of Veliky Novgorod city.