On March 17, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and AO MOSENERGO General Director Aleksandr Remezov visited substation Novo-Mazilovo. The substation is owned by Western Grids, a branch of AO MOSENERGO, and is an integrated part of the power supply system that supplies electricity to the third ring road and new residential districts of Moscow. Particularly, this substation supplies electricity for lighting the road crossing at the third ring road and Kutuzovsky Prospekt and to the residential districts of Matveevskoye, Fili, Fili-Davydkovo and Kuntsevo. "Substation Novo-Mazilovo is crucial for the city because it uses modern technology that produces reliable supply of electric power to municipal utilities," Luzhkov said.

The construction of the substation, which started in 1999, was completed at record-breaking speed. It was put into operation last August, just before the City Day celebrations.

Substation Novo-Mazilovo is the most advanced substation within not only AO MOSENERGO but also the whole of Russia. This is the first division of Western Grids which has introduced automated controls for 10kV switches. The system allows for automatic display switch data and voltage indications at the load dispatching room. In addition, sulphur hexafluoride equipment, manufactured by a major Swiss company ABB Group, has been installed in the factory-assembled unit. Sulphur hexafluoride switches produced by this company are famous for high reliability. According to substation head Viktor Ivanov the probability of failure for this equipment equals 0.01 percent.

In addition to this substation, Western Grids have launched another substation: Mamonovo. Both substations were constructed under the Program for Energy Development of the Moscow Region through 2010. According to Luzhkov, the joint effort by the Moscow Government and AO MOSENERGO ensures uninterrupted supply of electric power to satisfy the growing demand for electricity from the population and city enterprises.

In accordance with this program, AO MOSENERGO has already put into operation substations Gorenki and Yelokhovskaya in Eastern Grids. They have also scheduled the construction of substation Cherkizovo and substations Bitza and Akademicheskaya in Southern Grids, as well as Kurkino and Gerzevo in Oktyabrskie Grids.