IPS/UPS

The IPS/UPS ( ), also widely known as the Russian grid, is a wide area synchronous transmission grid, the Russian Unified Power System (UPS; , Yedinaya energeticheskaya sistema Rossii) and the Integrated Power System (IPS; , Ob"yedinennaya energeticheskaya sistema) portion of the network being the national networks of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It has an installed generation capacity of 300 gigawatts, and produces 1,200 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year for its 280 million customers. The system spans eight time zones.

The IPS/UPS ( ), also widely known as the Russian grid, is a wide area synchronous transmission grid, the Russian Unified Power System (UPS; , Yedinaya energeticheskaya sistema Rossii) and the Integrated Power System (IPS; , Ob"yedinennaya energeticheskaya sistema) portion of the network being the national networks of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It has an installed generation capacity of 300 gigawatts, and produces 1,200 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year for its 280 million customers. The system spans eight time zones.

Background

The development of electric power industry and power lines in the Soviet Union (USSR) was associated with the GOELRO plan. Subsequently the connection of the lines of the republics including the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was organized into the "United Energy System" (UES) of the USSR. On 25 July 1962, within the framework of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland and Romania signed an Agreement in Moscow, to establish a Central Dispatch Office for the united energy systems of these countries in Prague. According to the agreement, the power systems of these countries were interconnected and operated synchronously with the Unified Power System of the USSR under the Unified Power System "Mir" framework. As a result of the dissolution of the USSR, the UES of the USSR was de jure divided, but de facto and physically continued to function, including with subordination to the center in Prague. In November 1993, due to a large capacity deficit in Ukraine, the "UES of Russia" and the "IPS of Ukraine" were involuntarily switched to separate operation, which resulted in the termination of parallel operations with the power systems of other participant countries of the Central Dispatch Control in Prague. As a result, the "Mir" energy association was split into several parts. Subsequently, energy system of East Germany VEAG in September 1995 joined for parallel operation with the energy system of Western Europe UCTE, and by October 1995 UCTE expanded further east, which included the energy systems of Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Burshtyn Energy Island had left IPS/UPS and IES of Ukraine on 1 July 2002 and switched to synchronous operation with the UCTE grid. At the Russia–European Union Summit in October 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Council President Guy Verhofstadt noted that the goal of interconnecting the power grids of Russia and Europe was in the mutual interest of both parties. In 2003, the CIS Electricity Council (CIS EEC) and UCTE adopted a decision to prepare a feasibility study. The research, conclusions and recommendations were published in 2008¹.

Unified Power System of Russia

The Russian portion of the interconnection is known as Unified Power System of Russia (UPS; ) and currently consists of 75 regional energy systems, which, in turn, form 7 unified energy systems or regional transmission operators: UPS Center ( ) - covering Central Federal District UPS South ( ) - covering Southern Federal District and North Caucasian Federal District UPS North-West ( ) - covering Northwestern Federal District (including Kaliningrad as a power island) UPS Middle Volga ( ) - covering Volga Federal District UPS Ural ( ) - covering Ural Federal District UPS Siberia ( ) - covering Siberian Federal District UPS East ( ) - covering Far Eastern Federal District The current UPS of Russia structure came into existence as a result of Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation from 11.07.2001 No. 526 "On the reform of the electric power industry of the Russian Federation". Up until 1 July 2008 RAO UES operated UPS. It is currently being operated by the Federal Grid Company (FGC UES) of Russia. The Unified Power System came into existence around 1956, when the power systems of Center and Middle Volga were interconnected. By 1978, the unified power system included all of the Soviet Union except Central Asia.

Afghanistan

The North-Eastern Power System of Afghanistan (NEPS) receives electricity from Uzbekistan via 220 kV Surkhan-Naibabad overhead line and from Tajikistan via 220 kV Sangtuda-Kunduz overhead line. Synchronous operation of IPS Central Asia with the North-Eastern Power System of Afghanistan (NEPS) and South-Eastern Power System (SEPS) where Afghanistan's generating capacity is concentrated, is prohibited due to problems with sustainability. If the issue of interconnection of the eastern power systems of Afghanistan (NEPS and SEPS) are to be considered, then the synchronous operation of the Afghanistan power system with the IPS Central Asia is possible. Uzbekistan started construction of a new Surkhan-Puli Khumri-Khumri line, which will connect Afghanistan's power system to the integrated power system of Uzbekistan and Central Asia. Once the line is commissioned, Afghanistan's power system will be connected for the first time to work synchronously with the IPS of Central Asia.

China

There have been proposals to interconnect the Russian grid to China and other Asian systems with HVDC links as part of an Asian Super Grid. Currently, northern Chinese grid operates together with the UPS East from Blagoveshchensk via direct current converters at the 500 kV Heihe substation, where electricity is transmitted from Russia to China in an island mode via alternating current transmission lines. The Amur-Heihe overhead transnational power line was constructed for increasing electricity exports from Russia to China and commissioned in 2012 with maximum capacity of 750 MW.

Finland

On 30 September 1960, an agreement was signed to supply 200 megawatts electricity from the Soviet Union to Finland annually starting January 1961. Capacity was increased to 355 megawatts in 1981, to 710 megawatts in 1982 and 1065 megawatts in summer of 1984. In 2005, Russia and the EU considered unifying the IPS/UPS network with the ENTSO-E to form a single synchronous super grid spanning 13 time zones. Between 1961 and 2022, IPS/UPS had a oneway interlink to the Nordic system via a back-to-back high-voltage direct current (HVDC) connection to Finland from Vyborg, Russia with a capacity of 1420 megawatts. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of economic sanctions, on 13 May 2022, RAO Nordic released a statement saying Russia was halting the export of power to Finland due to lack of payment. Power transmission from Russia to Finland halted at 2200 GMT 13 May 2022.

See also

Continental Europe Synchronous Area SuperSmart Grid European super grid

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373455432 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.