First substation modules arrive for permanent power at Smolensk-2 construction site

The first structural components for a 110/10 kV substation serving the Smolensk-2 construction and installation base have reached the main contractor’s site, Rosatom said on 22 October. Discussed at a project meeting in Desnogorsk, the delivery prepares permanent power infrastructure for the two-unit nuclear project’s construction facilities. Incoming inspection has been arranged; the release does not report that the substation is operational.

The modular building will be assembled from 16 sections. According to the contractor’s account carried by Rosatom, it will supply seven smaller distribution substations that will provide regular electricity to facilities being built. The intention is to move the construction and installation base from temporary diesel generation to a permanent supply arrangement. This infrastructure serves construction demand, separately from the future reactors’ electricity exports.

Alongside the electrical work, the base is developing a reinforcing-steel workshop, client and main-contractor buildings and a canteen. Roads and engineering networks are being laid, with foundations prepared for concrete-production facilities and other structures. These are parallel preparatory works. The reported progress does not mean either reactor has been completed or licensed for nuclear operation.

Equipment procurement for 2026–2027 has put 38 lots covering 5,332 equipment units into work for the construction base and preparatory phase. The list includes tower cranes, pumping stations, lifting equipment, machine tools and building heating, ventilation, water and fire-alarm systems. Particular attention is being given to equipment with long manufacturing lead times. The procurement-lot count is not a count of completed deliveries.

On permitting, licence-justification documents received a positive state environmental-examination conclusion in September, while documentation for the sanitary protection zone was approved by the Federal Medical-Biological Agency in October. A state project-review conclusion is expected by 15 December. That final step remains an expectation; the earlier approvals do not substitute for it.

Smolensk-2 is included in Russia’s electricity-facility siting plan through 2042 with two VVER-optim units and combined planned installed capacity of 2,400 MW. It is intended gradually to replace existing Smolensk units as their operating lives end. The current plant operates three 1,000 MW units. Planned capacity at the replacement project and operating capacity at the existing plant describe different facilities and stages.

The meeting also addressed occupational, fire and environmental safety. Rosatom said client and contractor representatives inspect facilities before shifts and halt work when risks are identified, as workforce numbers prepare to grow. The release does not give a total monetary investment or exact commissioning timetable for the reactors. Its latest milestone concerns electricity infrastructure and preparatory procurement.