Director General of Rosenergoatom Andrey Petrov signed the corresponding order.
Pilot operation with 15-day comprehensive tests preceded the unit’s commissioning.
On March 10, following the tests, Russian nuclear watchdog Rostechnadzor confirmed the facility compliance with the design documentation, technical regulations, and energy efficiency requirements.
Andrey Petrov noted:
- The Leningrad NPP’s new unit is the 4th unit with a VVER-1200 reactor commissioned in Russia
- Today’s milestone event brings the total number of NPP units in Russia to 38
- The new unit will fully replace the capacity of Unit 2 with RBMK-1000, which was finally shut down in November 2020 after 45 years of operation
- It will also ensure the energy and economic stability of the region
Today, the Leningrad NPP covers more than 55% of energy needs of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region, which constitutes 30% of the electricity generation in the North-West of Russia.
Despite the decommissioning of Unit 2, the Leningrad NPP with an installed capacity of 4,400 MW remains the most powerful NPP in Russia.
Its VVER-1200 reactor-enabled units serve as references for a number of Rosatom’s international NPP projects:Vladimir Pereguda, Director of Leningrad NPP, stressed:
- We are sure that the new power unit has safe and reliable future
- Hundreds of tests at the stage of pilot commercial operation demonstrated that the power unit is ready to operate in full compliance with the project to provide electricity to the dynamically developing North-West Region in future
After this, on March 10, Rostechnadzor issued a statement of conformance with project documentation, technical regulations and energy efficiency requirements for the commissioned facility.
According to preliminary estimates, after the beginning of commercial operation, the economic effect in the form of additional taxes to the consolidated budget of the Leningrad Region will amount to more than RUB 3 billion (ca. $40,5 million) annually.
