Sort-rolling plant of Severstal, Foundry of Uralvagonzavod and aluminium plant of Rusal to launch in Balakovo

The Saratov region is luckly. In the Soviet times in Balakovo, located 160 km to the North-East of Saratov, had the largest in the European part of the continent nuclear power station – the Balakovo nuclear power station (belongs to the state concern Rosatom) with 4 GW capacity was constructed. The Saratov water power plant was located not far (1.4 GW capacity, belongs to the state holding RusGidro) that is in the top-10 largest water power plants in Russia. Together they produce more than 40 bln kWh of electric energy, the Saratov region consumes a bit more than 10 bln kWh despite of the chemicals, oil refinery and car manufacturing capacities. We produce the electric energy by 4 times more than we consume. And such energy system rises the interest of investors to come to the Saratov region, the Minister of Industry and Energy of the region S. Lisovsky said in the talk with the correspondent of Expert Online.
The presence of extra capacities on electric energy production has become the main reason of, for example, the decisions of Severstal’s A. Mordashov to construct a metallurgical plant on sort-rolled production for the construction sphere. This project with the cost of more than $600 mln and the volume of production of 1 mln sort-rolled products a year is entering the stage of active construction. The first goods are to be produced in 2013. The unique metallurgical mini-plant is ecologically safe, uses the innovative technologies – it is a project that should make not only the Balakovo district but also the entire region be proud of it. I’m sure the new enterprise will contribute to the development of the regional economy, attract new investors. The plant will meet the needs of the local companies in high-quality construction metal rolled products, increase tax income to the budget and will help to settle the social issues, the head of the Balakovo administration A. Saifutdinov said. 
In the spring 2011 Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) started the construction of steel making capacities in Balakovo. The investment volume is 3 bln roubles. By 2014 UVZ plans to produce annually 60 thousand tons of cast sections for wagon construction that will be used by YVZ and Transmashholding located in Engels city near Saratov. The main thing is the stable energy situation in the Saratov region as we have the power-consuming production. Balakovo is a city of nuclear industry, there is a surplus of electric energy, the head of UVZ O. Sienko explained the choice of the construction site. 
The owner of the station- concern Rosatom – invests another 1 bln roubles in the development of the production near the Balakovo nuclear power station. Its enterprise Argon is located in Balakovo that together with CHB (Saratov) and the plant of hydrocarbon and composite materials is an affiliate of the only black fiber producer in Russia – Chimpromengineering. The production of high-modulus fiber for the needs of nuclear industry, carbon tapes for the needs of aviation is applied at Argon. So Rosatom has decided to form on the basis of Argon a center high-tech details production for the needs of the nuclear corporation, Rosnano and other modern production capacities. 
The network companies that develop the infrastructure for energy output of the Balakovo nuclear power station are not behind. The station was constructed earlier than the necessary volume of high-voltage trunk transmission line. Low throughput capacity of the transmission line led to the fact that the Balakovo nuclear power station has never worked at its full capacity. Even within the region its right bank part can’t fully use the electric current from Balakovo. So in the spring 2009 a branch of the Federal network company – MES Volgi – started the construction of a transmission line Balakovo nuclear power station-Kurdyum with 3.7 bln roubles value that besides covering the deficit of capacity in the right bank part of the Saratov energy system will become the first stage of the inter-system electric connection between of Volga and Center. The new transmission line of more than 200 km length will start working at the end of this year. The next stage is the construction of a new transmission line -500 kW “Balakovo nuclear power station--Klyuchiki” that is supposed to increase the energy flow from Balakovka to the Ulyanovsk and Penza regions. These projects will be of great importance to the forming in the Ulyanovsk region aviation and nuclear clusters. Another 2 bln roubles will be invested in the reconstruction of the substation 220 kW Saratovskaya that was put into operation in 1960. this substation is the main source of the electric power supply to region’s capital with 800 thousand people population, and such large industrial consumers as the Saratov aviation plant, Asphalt plant, Saratov bearing plant etc.
And finally the concern Rosatom invests 8.5 bln roubles in the prolongation for 15 years the deadline of operation of the 1st energy block of the Balakovo nuclear power station that was put into operation in 1985 and the operation period of which expires in 2015. Last year the Balakovo project and research branch of Atomenergoproject started to develop the investment project of prolongation the operation time of the 2nd energy block of the Balakovo nuclear power station. It is evident that the lives of all 4 energy blocks will be prolonged. 
There is still an intrigue around the 5th and 6th blocks the construction of which started in the Soviet times but was frozen due to the Chernobyl events (the readiness of the 5th block was more than 50%). The Governor of the Saratov region P. Ipatov (former director of the Balakovo nuclear power station) has long been convincing the Government and Rosatom to finish the construction of these blocks but each time he is said that the 4 blocks don’t operate at full capacity. In 2007 Rusal and the regional Government signed the investment agreement that the company of O. Deripaska would construct in the Saratov region the aluminium plant with 1.05 mln tons of metal a year capacity. Such a plant can’t be built without a connection to a serious source of energy supply, the regional minister of industry and energy S. Lisovsky said. It was supposed that Rusal and Rosatom would construct 2 blocks of the Balakovo nuclear power station with the total capacity of 2GW for $8 bln. But the crisis started and the metallurgical companies have other problems to solve. It was more important for Rusal to finish the construction of the Boguchansky (Krasnoyarsk region) and Taishetsky (Irkutsk region) aluminium plants. So there is nothing said about the construction of 2 energy blocks in the strategy of development through 2020. But the Government might introduce changes in this document. At the latest meeting of the regional heads in Perm it was said that about 1/3 of the regions start feeling a need in energy. It is particularly about Tatarstan and Chuvashiya. The lack of electric energy in these regions might put under risk the execution of large and interesting investment projects there. The potential of development of the Balakovo nuclear power station is not exhausted. 

http://www.rosinvest.com/news/836541/
Translated by Galiya Davletgareeva