Moscow. 28 June 2005. The subsidiaries of RAO "UES of Russia" OAO "Orenburgenergo" and OAO "Khabarovskenergo" have signed an agreement with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA) on the sale of "emissions reductions units" (ERUs) generated as a result of the modernization projects at the power plants in the Khabarovsk Kray and Orenburg Region.
These are the first projects implemented in the Russian Federation in accordance with the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol* and seeking to attract carbon investments in the Russian electricity industry.
The projects are designed to modernize the Amurskaya CHPP-1 of OAO "Khabarovskenergo" (boilers No. 9 and 10 are to be converted to burning gas fuel), and the Mednogorskaya CHPP of OAO "Orenburgenergo" (installation of a TG-3,5/10,5 block steam turbine and two ATG-10 block gas turbine units with waste heat recovery boilers, and dismantling of the obsolete steam boilers).
Investments in the power plants' modernization make EUR9 million and EUR11.071 million, respectively. As a result of the project, the greenhouse emissions at the Amurskaya CHPP-1 will be reduced by 1 million tonnes of ??2 and at the Mednogorskaya CHPP 210,000 tonnes of ??2 .
Under the agreements signed with the DEPA, Russia will transfer the ERUs generated as a result of the modernization of the Amurskaya CHPP-1 and Mednogorskaya CHPP will be to the greenhouse emissions buyer, the Danish Government.
* The Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was ratified by 125 countries and came into force on February 16, 2005. Only after the Kyoto Protocol was ratified by Russia in autumn 2004 did it become possible for the Protocol to come into effect. The Russian Federation accounts for 17.4% of the world's emissions, so Russia's entry helped reach the 55% target for greenhouse gas emissions by participating industrialized countries required for the Protocol to become legally binding. The Protocol demands a 5.2% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2010-2012 compared to 1990. Russia does not have such reduction commitments, as due to the recession in the early 1990s emissions have fallen by almost one third from the 1990-level. That is why, regardless of the economic development scenarios in the country, Russia will not exceed the required threshold and it may sell the amounts of emissions assigned to it and trade the emissions reduced as a result of projects designed for the purpose.
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