Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution, Inc. has received a contract to supply state-of-the-art energy management and energy market management systems to equip Russia's extra-high voltage power system. The new Siemens systems will replace the existing systems and add new functionality, increase operating reliability of all equipment, reduce overall network losses and improve utilization of power plant capacity. The order has a value of about $35 million; commissioning is planned for late 2008.

Russia is not only the world's largest country in terms of surface area, it also has one of the largest and most complex power networks in the world with correspondingly high requirements regarding data volume and the efficiency of power system control. The System Operator-Central Dispatching Office for Unified Energy System of Russia (SO-CDU UES) contracted Siemens to develop the new control system in response to the requirements of the deregulated Russian energy market.

Siemens will deliver a complete system for the Russian 220-kV and 500-kV extra-high voltage system consisting of the central power system control center in Moscow and seven regional control centers distributed across the whole of Russia. Two of these regional control centers are configured as backup control centers for the central power system control center.

The planned control system, which is based on the latest advanced Spectrum PowerCC architecture, will provide the necessary energy management and market management functions for the management of the entire Russian extra-high voltage network as well as the scheduling of generation resources all the way from the year-long planning environment to the second-to-second control needed for real-time systems. Furthermore, as planned, the system will provide all interfaces and programs for data exchange with the operator of the power trading system and all other market players such as distribution companies, producers and qualified users.

"This is truly a global effort from Siemens, deploying the latest component based technology from U.S.A., Germany and Austria, to address this large complex grid management need," said Kevin Sullivan, vice president and general manager of Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution's Energy Management & Automation division.

The system will operate with open standards such as the IEC 61970 standard for the Common Information Model (CIM) data model, which will greatly facilitate the exchange of power system and market data among all stakeholders of the Russian energy marketplace. For the first time in Russia, all data relating to the extra-high voltage network will also be gathered centrally in the internationally standardized CIM format. These standards create the basis for expansions expected in an increasingly deregulated energy market. Siemens will develop the system to the specific requirements of the Russian deregulated energy market model with energy management functions and energy market management functions matched specifically to the stipulations of the Russian market regulations.

About RAO Unified Energy System of Russia Unified Energy System of Russia (UES) keeps Russians plugged in with more than 250 thousand miles of high-voltage electric transmission lines and majority stakes in more than 70 regional power distribution companies. The utility, one of Russia's largest companies, has 157,000 MW of primarily fossil-fueled generating capacity. It provides about 70% of the country's electricity and exports power to neighboring nations. Competition is being introduced in Russia's utility industry; deregulation is scheduled to take full effect in 2006. UES' generation and distribution assets will be spun off and UES will become the nation's transmission grid operator. The Russian government owns about 53% of UES.