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Leningrad II plant begins providing district heating

Monday, 2 December 2019

Unit 1 of Russia's Leningrad II nuclear power plant has been integrated into the heat supply system of the city of Sosnovy Bor, operator Rosenergoatom has announced. The VVER-1200 reactor will replace electricity and heating capacity lost with the closure last December of the first of four RBMK-1000 units at the nearby Leningrad plant.

Leningrad II plant begins providing district heating — The Leningrad II plant in northwest Russia (Image: Rosatom)

All major manufacturing and production companies located on the industrial park in Sosnovy Bor were the first to receive the heat produced by Leningrad II-1, Rosenergoatom said. The next stage will be to integrate the reactor's heat supply into the city's residential heating system.

The net cost of heat generated at the Leningrad nuclear plant is far lower than that produced by boiler rooms run on organic fuel, the company said. In addition, the use of nuclear-generated heat avoids the emission of carbon dioxide and has a lesser impact on the environment.

"The VVER-1200 power block is a replacement for both electricity and heat capacities, and it will start delivering those as a replacement for the shutdown RBMK-1000 power block," said Dmitry Tsygankov, head of the turbine hall of Leningrad II unit 1. "The Leningrad NPP turbine hall and district heat supply boiler room teams have fully ensured reliable and trouble-free heat supply to the city and the industrial park using a high-capacity power block that can output twice as much as an RBMK block."

Andrey Graf, deputy head of Leningrad II-1's turbine hall, added: "The thermal output of the new power block is 3200 MW or 250 Gcal/h, which is pretty much enough to supply heat to the industrial park and all Sosnovy Bor. As of now, we are only using one-third of the equipment's capacity, and it caters for 60% of the boiler room's heat demand. In the future, we are ready to fully load our cogeneration plant and start selling heat power for central heating and hot water supply in the nuclear power city and satisfy any demand."

The existing Leningrad plant site comprises four RBMK-1000 units, while Leningrad II will have four VVER-1200 units. Leningrad unit 1 was shut down for decommissioning on 21 December last year, with the other three units scheduled to shut by 2025. Leningrad II unit 1 was connected to the grid on 9 March 2018, becoming the second VVER-1200 reactor to start up, following the launch in 2016 of Novovoronezh unit 6. The loading of fuel into the Leningrad II-2 VVER-1200 is scheduled to begin in March next year.