The ceremonial launch of the projects was held during the All-Russian meeting on the progress of preparation of electric power industry entities for the autumn and winter season. Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, Pavel Livinskiy, General Director of Rosseti, regional leaders – Alexander Bogomaz, Head of the Bryansk Region, and Denis Butsaev, First Deputy Governor of the Belgorod Region, took part in the official launch.

‘Commissioning of the Belgorod substation and the digital Bryansk power distribution zone will allow to improve reliability and availability of electric power supply for two regions in the Central Russia. The primary consumers are local residents, welfare and transport organizations, largest industrial enterprises,’ emphasizes Alexander Novak.

‘These projects are an important step towards the digital transformation of electric power networks which is currently deployed nationwide. Advanced technology was utilized and up-to-date equipment was installed in the both projects,’ highlights Pavel Livinskiy.

In Belgorod, the 330 kV Belgorod substation of a high-degree automation was built at a new site. The old substation (operated since the 1960s) will be taken down. The land plot is provided to the city government for implementation of local projects. The amount of investments is RUB 6.5 billion. The substation capacity is 500 MVA. More than 10,000 digital signals coming from the equipment are processed automatically. The substation is fitted with the remote-control function.

Reliability of the power supply of Belgorod and the regional electric power system in general have been improved (the population is over 1.5 million people). The Lebedinsky and Yakovlevsky Mining and Processing Plants are among the primary consumers.

The electric power network of the Bryansk region provides for a complete observability, complete digital communication cover, prompt remote switching both in routine and emergency modes. As of the end of 2020, Rosseti will manage 38 digital power distribution zones (including ‘pilot’ zones) in its presence area. By 2030, all the power distribution zones will go digital.

Generally, Rosseti invested in the Belgorod region about RUB 19.3 m in 2017-2019. In 2020-2024, over RUB 18.7 million is planned to be invested. The company allocated RUB 6.6 million to fund projects in the Bryansk region in 2017-2019, and in 2020-2024, the funding may exceed RUB 12.6 million.