Russia has not found investors for the construction of a power plant for the Crimea
A Russian contract proposal for the construction of a power plant in the Krasnodar region, needed to support the annexed Crimea, has not received any bids, reported Reuters.
No companies have submitted bids for the contract, and authorities subsequently deemed the proposal invalid.
The proposal planned to search for new investors to fund the construction of the 450 MW capacity power plant on the Taman Peninsula by 2018. The power plant is needed to supply power to the Krasnodar region of southern Russia and transmit power to the Crimea.
According to the Russian authorities, three potential foreign bidders were interested in the project: E.ON Russia (now Unipro), owned by a German energy company; Enel Russia; and Finland's Fortum. Additionally, interest in the project was also expressed by joint stock company InterRAO; OJSC Generating Company, from Tatarstan; Russian engineering company Technopromexport, which is part of the Russian Technologies State Corporation; and an unnamed Chinese investor.
However, according to sources, investors were deterred by the project’s short timeframe for implementation “from ground zero.”
“Nobody wants to take a risk because the timeframe is very tight. You will definitely not get a medal for it, but it is quite possible to get it in trouble. The project is on everyone’s lips – much like the Vostochny Cosmodrome,” stated one of the energy company’s managers, recalling that construction workers from the Cosmodrome were charged with fraud and embezzlement. Moreover, four sources from the energy companies reported that investors were not satisfied with the projected profitability of the project.
Commenters on the proposal also noted the possibility of political risks due to sanctions from the EU and US.
Russia initially stated that it intended to build a nuclear power plant in the Crimea but later gave up the idea.