Baltiysky Zavod delivers floating power unit Akademik Lomonosov
Baltiysky Zavod JSC (company of United Shipbuilding Corporation) says it has completed the construction of the the world’d first floating power unit, the Akademik Lomonosov, and delivered it to the customer.
The construction was completed on 28 June 2019 with the signing of the acceptance/delivery certificate года according to which the vessel had undergone all tests foreseen by the project having confirmed all its characteristics.
According to the document, the FPU can be fully operational.
FPU Akademik Lomonosov has been delivered to the customer, Rosenergoatom JSC, with the acceptance documentation signed on June 30.
“Now we start preparing the floating power unit for transportation to its permanent base in Pevek of the Chukotka Autonomous Region”, said Andrey Petrov, General Director of Rosenergoatom JSC.
Andrey Vladimirov, head of Project 20870, commented: “Despite the completion of works on construction of the power unit we will take part in preparing the vessel for the voyage from Murmansk to Pevek, the beginning of which is scheduled for 23 August 2019”.
“When the vessel arrives to its permanent base in Pevek, Baltiysky Zavod will supervise installation … Upon completion of all assembling works we will continue providing our warranty services till the middle of 2021”, he added.
The floating power unit (FPU) of Project 20870 is to operate as a part of floating nuclear power plant. It is to be put into operation by the end of 2019. The facility will replace the Bilibino NPP which generates 80% of the electricity produced by the closed-loop Chaun-Bilibino energy system, a pioneer nuclear power plant built in the Arctic region (in Chukotka).
The station is equipped with KLT-40 C reactors generating up to 70 MW of electricity and 50 Gcal / h of heat energy in the nominal operating mode, which is enough to support the city with a population of about 100,000 people. The floating power unit is intended for operation in the Far North and in the Far East regions. The lead FPU, the Akademik Lomonosov FPU, is intended for the floating nuclear power plant in Pevek (the Chukotka Autonomous District). It is a unique project of the world’s first mobile power unit of low capacity. The main purpose of the project is to supply power to large industrial enterprises, port cities as well as offshore gas and oil platforms.
FPU characteristics: LOA: 140 m, beam: 30 m, depth: 10 m, draft: 5.6 m, displacement – 21,500 tonnes, crew – 69.
The facility can easily be converted into a desalination plant producing up to 240,000 cbm / day of fresh water. The floating plant’s design service life is 35 to 40 years. Reactor refueling is to be performed every 2.5 - 3 years.
The floating nuclear power plant is overdesigned to meet all the possible risks and ensure the reactors’ unvulnerability in case of tsunami and other disasters. Nuclear processes comply with all the requirements of International Atomic Energy Agency and present no risks for the environment.
Baltiysky Zavod Shipyard (Baltic Shipyard) established in 1856 is based in Saint-Petersburg and specializes in the construction of Rank 1 surface crafts, ice class vessels with nuclear and diesel-electric propulsion systems, nuclear floating energy units, floating distilling plants. Baltic Shipyard had built over 600 ships and vessels. The company employs more than 6,000 people.
United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC OJSC) is the largest shipbuilding company in Russia. It was set up in 2007 with 100% federal ownership. The holding comprises 40 companies and organizations (major shipbuilding and shiprepairing companies as well as leading design bureaus). Currently, USC consolidates the bulk of the domestic shipbuilding complex. The Russian market is the main focus of the state corporation though it also exports its products to 20 countries worldwide.
