“Energy heart” of Olympics host city

The Black Sea coast, including the city of Sochi, has traditionally been an energy-dependent region. Only about 25 per cent of the city's power and heat needs used to be met by the then existing power plants located on the Krasnodar Territory coast and near Sochi, with the remaining demand covered by power networks of the neighboring regions. Due to the annually growing power consumption, Sochi needed new generating capacities to tackle its energy shortages.

Enlarged photo (JPG, 394.2 KB)

In the autumn of 2009, Gazprom commenced the construction of the Adler Thermal Power Plant (Adler TPP) pursuant to Item 130 of the Program for the Construction of Olympic Venues and the Development of Sochi as a Mountain Resort approved by the Russian Government.

The Adler TPP came online in January 2013. With the aggregate capacity of 360 MW, the Adler TPP was the largest generating facility built in the lead-up to the 2014 international sports competitions. The power plant covered more than one-third of peak demand in the Sochi power district during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

The power plant is primarily fueled by natural gas from the Dzhubga – Lazarevskoye – Sochi gas trunkline. Competitive price and environmental friendliness make natural gas a very promising fuel.

The Adler TPP was brought onstream before the Olympic Games and continues to operate to this day. The TPP has substantially improved the energy situation in Sochi and secured uninterrupted electricity and heat supplies for the sports and tourist infrastructure in the Imereti Lowland and the facilities intended for developing Sochi as a mountain resort.