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A new heating season has started in Russia's Arctic zone

1 september 2022

In all nine regions, fully or partially included in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, heat supply has started. Preparations for the new heating season are almost entirely complete, and the communal infrastructure has been renewed and is ready for uninterrupted operation.

In Karelia, the previous heating season was the longest in the last five years, averaging 260 days. Therefore, the republic's resource-supplying organisations had 30 days less time to prepare for the new season.

'Nevertheless, the basic preparations have been made. We are preparing to heat up 297 boiler houses, their degree of readiness is 90 per cent,' Viktor Rossypnov, Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities and Energy of Karelia, said on 31 August. 'A fuel reserve has been created, contracts have been signed and in some cases, we managed to prevent the price from rising.'

Heat began to arrive in homes in the Murmansk Region on 1 September. Each municipality had the right to decide on the start of the heating season independently, but many decided not to delay and to open it at the beginning of autumn. And schools and kindergartens have been warming up since the end of August. 

According to Alyona Kuznetsova, Minister of State Housing and Construction Supervision of the Murmansk Region, there are no emergency situations in the region and all scheduled repairs have been completed on time. By 15 September, all municipalities must issue passports of readiness for all houses to management organisations and submit this information to Goszhilstroynadzor.

In Arkhangelsk, the heating season starts on 5 September. The plan is to have heat in every home in Pomorie by 15 September. The Arkhangelsk Region Ministry of Fuel and Energy and Communal Services reported that almost RUB 4.4 bn has been allocated from the budget to purchase fuel and maintain infrastructure in proper condition in 2022.

In Naryan-Mar, the capital of the Nenets Autonomous Area, the heat supply started on the first day of autumn.

Heat began to be supplied to Vorkuta, one of the biggest cities of the Komi Republic, on 25 August. On 31 August, Andrey Lisov, Minister of Construction and Housing and Utilities of the region, reported that 86% of the municipal boiler houses and 84% of the housing stock, 91% of the heating and water supply networks and 89% of the sewage networks were ready for the start of the heating season. Unfortunately, the figures for the replacement of dilapidated networks are not as high: only 70% of sewage networks, 76% of heating networks and 84% of water supply networks have been replaced.

In Yamal, 220 boiler houses, 1,928 km of heating networks, 103 central heating substations, 2,050 transformer substations and 5,522 km of power grids have been prepared for the new season. Heating started on 20 August: the first residents of Gydy settlement, Tazovsky district, were the first to receive it. On 1 September, heating began to be supplied to houses in Salekhard and Shuryshkar district, as well as all social and educational institutions of the district.

The new equipment will improve the reliability of the heating system in Yamal. 'To improve the reliability of heat supply services, the Priural's power engineers purchased one new boiler each for boiler houses in the villages of Beloyarsk and Katravozh, as well as pumps for boiler house No. 2 in Beloyarsk settlement and boiler house No. 3 in Shchuchye settlement,' the press service of Yamalkommunenergo JSC clarified.

Norilsk is ready for the new season: all repairs have been completed and the heating systems have been flushed. In a short summer, more than 7 km of thermal insulation and 25 km of heating networks were replaced—a record for a polar city. The management companies have carried out an audit of the district heating substations and shut-off valves. In the Kaierkan district, work continues apace to replace conventional heating units with automated ones and install heat exchangers, which did not prevent hot water and heating from being supplied to all Norilsk homes on 31 August.

The heating season started in 12 Arctic districts of Yakutia on 31 August. And in the Verkhoyanskiy district, the heat was supplied even earlier than normative deadlines so that houses affected by the flood could be dried out. 

Aleksandr Koryakin, First Deputy Director General for Production at SUE Housing and Utilities of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), said that all planned repair work in the Arctic part of Yakutia had been completed: boiler, draft, burner and other auxiliary equipment had been replaced, and heating facilities and utility networks had been prepared in a timely manner.

In Anadyr, Chukotka's capital city, the heating season started ahead of schedule due to rains and an increase in cases of acute respiratory infections: the heat was supplied to apartment buildings and socially important facilities as early as 14 August. The utilities had only a month and a half to prepare, as the last season ended on 30 June. Nevertheless, they coped with the task and the main heat supply systems in the region are operating normally.

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