Moscow, 15 December 2004. The work to prepare the Sochinskaya TPP for trial operation is carried out according to the schedule. This is the conclusion arrived at the meeting of the Task Force for the construction of the Sochinskaya TPP held at the power plant's premises by the member of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" Sergey Dubinin.

The Task Force noted the high technical readiness of the power plant for the launch scheduled for 20 December 2004.

Sochinskaya TPP ranks among the top priority projects of RAO "UES of Russia". The plant's designed capacity is 78 MW of electricity and 25 Gcal/h of heat. The power plant will generate 550.27 million kWh of electricity and 77,040 Gcal of heat annually. Natural gas will be the power plant's principal fuel, with the diesel fuel as an alternate source of energy.

The Sochinskaya TPP is the third large power plant in Russia to use the combined-cycle technology. The first one was the Severo-Zapadnaya CHPP in St.-Petersburg, and the second one was PGU-200 at the Tyumenskaya CHPP-1.

The use of combined-cycle technology increases the efficiency of thermal generation from 35-38% to 51% and reduces the consumption of natural gas by 30%. The up-to-date equipment installed at the power plant was produced by the leading Russian and foreign manufacturers.

The project to construct the Sochinskaya TPP is financed in accordance with the Investment Programme of RAO "UES of Russia". In 2004, the amount of funds spent on the project by RAO "UES of Russia" totalled RUB3.65 billion in earmarked funds and loans. Next year, RAO "UES of Russia" will allocate RUB2.6 billion for principal and interest payments on the loan raised in 2004 to finance the project.

The project targets to ensure reliable power for consumers in the city of Sochi and the surrounding areas, and to meet the growing energy demand in the region in connection with the creation of a recreation zone called "Krasnaya Polyana".