Moscow, 20 December 2006. The fire at Unit 10 of the Reftinskaya TPP had been extinguished by 7:30 am Moscow time.

On 20 December, a fire started at 2.55 am Moscow time at Unit 10 of the Reftinskaya TPP (Sverdlovsk Region), which is part of OAO "WGC-5". The fire was extinguished by the plant's fire fighting unit and fire brigades from the neighbouring settlements.

There were no casualties among the plant's operational and repair personnel.

Two power units of 500 MW each had been stopped in order to isolate the fire. The power plant has six units of 300 MW and four units of 500 MW. All reserve capacity of the Urals Energy System, including the recently constructed 180 MW unit at the Chelyabinsk CHPP-3, whose official launch is scheduled for 25 December, were used to compensate the lost capacity estimated at 1,000 MW.

There were no interruptions in electricity and heat supply to consumers in the Sverdlovsk region and the neighbouring regions, after the two power units at the Reftinskaya TPP had been stopped. Electricity and heat is supplied to all the customers in the usual mode. There are no restrictions of power supply to customers during the morning peak load.

A Task Force was created at RAO "UES of Russia"to investigate into the causes and address the consequences of the fire. The Task Force is headed by Technical Director of RAO "UES of Russia" Boris Vainzikher.