Progress of preparations for the upcoming heating season considered at Government session

The progress of preparations for the upcoming heating season was considered at the Government session, chaired by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.

The Minister of Energy Almassadam Satkaliyev reported that this year at the power plants planned to overhaul 10 power units, 49 boilers and 54 turbines. Currently the work is carried out on 3 power units, 19 boilers and 8 turbines. On 3 boilers and 8 turbines the overhaul is completed.

This year it's also planned to repair about 25.3 thousand kilometers of power transmission lines, 567 substations, 3.5 thousand switching centers and transformer substations. Today, almost 2 thousand km of power transmission lines, 69 substations, as well as 469 distribution points and transformers have been repaired.

The Minister said that special attention during the repair work is paid to power companies that are included in the zone of risk in the upcoming heating season. In particular, necessary measures have been taken to start repair of all 6 boilers of CHP Ridder. Similar work is carried out on CHP Ekibastuz, Zhezkazgan, Kentau, etc.

As Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development Marat Karabayev noted, today we are actively preparing social facilities and residential houses for the heating period. As of June 22 unsealing work conducted at 2.5 thousand educational facilities, 1.7 thousand health facilities and 7.3 thousand homes.

At the same time in all regions technical inspection of heating networks is carried out. As of today the work has been completed in 30 towns out of 89. In general, more than 500 km of heating networks are to be repaired by the end of the year. In addition, 233 km out of 1,4 thousand km of water supply networks have been repaired, as well as 46 km of sewage networks.

Akims of Pavlodar region Assain Baikhanov, Karaganda region Yermaganbet Bulekpayev, Abay region Nurlan Urankhayev also reported on the ongoing work.

Prime Minister noted that the issue of preparation for the heating season is specifically considered in advance in June. However, according to him, there are already a number of shortcomings on the part of both akimats and central government agencies.

For example, the system operator, KEGOC, has approved repair work on CHPPs, but in many regions they are lagging behind, and in some cases, they are postponed until next year.

"For example, at Atyrau CHPP, the overhaul of turbines has not started. The breakdown was 60 days. The current repair of the boiler at the CHPP in Rudnyi has not started, with a delay of 45 days. At CHPP-1 in Temirtau, the planned overhaul of the boiler was canceled at all. And such examples, unfortunately, are many. Such an approach is unacceptable. It is necessary to increase the responsibility of owners of power facilities. We have to determine strict reciprocal obligations," Alikhan Smailov said.

He also underlined that the heating networks are being repaired at slow pace: out of 47 projects, only 30 are being repaired. In addition, their technical inspection has not been completed. According to the Head of the Government, such a situation is also due to the lack of coordination between the authorized state body and the akimats.

"In general I assess the work on preparation for the heating season as unsatisfactory. Responsible deputy heads of akims and ministers should be "field", not "cabinet". We must promptly address all emerging issues directly at the sites of repair. We have no time to bounce back - June is approaching. We need to work around the clock. The construction season is short, so the risks are high. If the situation doesn't improve by the end of the summer, we will make personnel decisions concerning the responsible persons," Alikhan Smailov said. 

The Head of Government stressed that the Ministry of Energy together with the akims of the regions should ensure the full readiness of heat sources for the heating season without postponing, the Ministry of Industry to take all necessary measures to complete the repair work on the heating networks.

Alikhan Smailov also identified the need to work out the issue of establishing the responsibility of energy producing organizations for the failure of the approved repair schedule within the draft law on thermal energy.

"When approving the tariff, we need a comprehensive approach to determine the validity of the applications made and the actual situation at the plant," he said. 

At the same time, the Prime Minister instructed to analyze the technical condition of regional power grid companies within two weeks and to develop a map of risks, indicating the measures to address them. In addition, he demanded to radically revise the work of regional headquarters for the preparation for the heating season.

"Every year their work has been of a formal nature. They exist only on paper and are not immersed in the process of repair campaigns. Meetings of the headquarters should be held directly at the sites, not in the walls of akimats," Alikhan Smailov concluded.

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