Facilities of Yekaterinburg Electrical Network Company JSC are in fact over-aged, reports the company’s spokesperson.

According to the company representatives, reconstruction might be a solution to the problem, as well as putting some new facilities into service. So far, a number of the company’s substations have already been maximally loaded so that any excess load may bring about an emergency. At the same time, the other substations operate in the normal load mode.

Therefore, no new users can be connected neither to Zapadnaya, Vesna or Metallist substations due to their heavy load, nor within the areas by the Iset River starting from the location of Chkalovskaya substation. Construction of some new power facilities to satisfy the growing demand for electric power is scheduled within the corporate investments program for 2007-2009.

The program provides for reconstruction of Zapadnaya substation. While the construction of a new building for the substation equipment was launched in 2006, in 2007 the company will install the new high-power 110-kilovolt transformers instead of the existing 35/6-kilovolt ones there. These operations are going to cost 250m RUR. The company is going to reconstruct Panelnaya substation as well, installing some new high-power 110-kilovolt breakers and transformers there. This part of the reconstruction will cost about 150m RUR.