Moscow. 23 November 2004. Today, hydrogenerating unit No. 3 of the Bureyskaya HPP has been put into commercial operation in the settlement of Talakan, Amurskaya Region. The inauguration ceremony was attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government Alexander Zhukov and the Chairman of the Management Board of RAO UES Anatoly Chubais.

The construction of the Bureyskaya HPP is provided by the Federal Target Program "Economic Development of the Far East and Transbaikalia for years 1996-2005 and until 2010" (dated March 19, 2003) and the Federal Target Program "Energy Efficient Economy".

This power plant is a top priority construction project of RAO "UES of Russia". In 2000 - 2003, the Holding Company invested RUB14.6 billion in own funds in the construction of the power plant. In 2004, RAO "UES of Russia" is to invest RUB8.9 billion in the construction of the Bureyskaya HPP. The amount of investments to be made in the construction project in 2005 is anticipated at RUB8.5 billion.

The first two hydrogenerating units of the Bureyskaya HPP were put into operation in June and November of 2003, respectively. Their aggregate capacity is 370 MW. The commissioning of the third hydrogenerating unit (300 MW) will increase the power plant's capacity almost twofold to 670 MW. This will improve the reliability of energy supply in the Far East and increase the share of cheap electricity generated by the hydropower plant in the region's energy balance.

The commissioning of the Bureyskaya HPP helped reduce the region's dependence on coal supplies. In 2004 alone, the generation at the power plant will save over RUB1.75 million tonnes of coal. After the power plant reaches its designed capacity, the savings will total 5.2 million tonnes of coal annually. In 2004, the annual savings as a result of reduction in the purchase of long-range coals will make RUB1.3 billion, and in 2007 the savings are expected to reach RUB4.7 billion.

The launch of the first two hydrogenerating units at the Bureyskaya HPP made it possible to reduce the electricity tariffs in the East energy area by 5-9% in 2003 and by 2.09% in 2004.

In the ten months of 2004, the power plant generated 1.6 billion kWh of electricity. Thus, the power plant made it possible to meet the increased energy demand in the area: the demand grew year-on-year by 857.8 million kWh in the ten months of 2004 to 30.7 billion kWh.

When the power plant construction is completed and all six hydrogenerators are put into operation, the capacity of the Bureyskaya HPP will reach 2,000 MW, and the average annual output will be 7.1 billion kWh.