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Reducing costs with GPU: interview with the chief power engineer of Liora Energy

12 January 2026

The use of gas piston units (GPUs) allows businesses to drastically reduce energy costs. However, the decision to purchase this equipment is often delayed due to doubts and prejudices based on inaccurate or incomplete information. Olga Kozyreva, a public relations specialist at Liora Energy, interviewed Mikhail Yurievich Arkhipov, the company's chief energy officer. We bring to your attention expert answers to the most common questions about the benefits and possibilities of autonomous generation on a GPU.

— Mikhail Yurievich, what kind of request do clients most often come to you with? Do they already know for sure that they want a gas piston unit, or do they come up with a problem — for example, "energy bills are too high, help"?

— You know, they come more often with a desire to save money. They already know the basic principle: it is profitable to convert gas into electricity. But there are a lot of technical and organizational nuances between this knowledge and the actual result: design, coordination, connection. And here our main task is to understand the client's needs and find the optimal solution. We can take over the entire project completely, or we can connect at any stage. The classic situation is when a customer says: "We have our own gas workers, they will do everything, you just tell them what they need." It's a familiar story, and we're working on it.

— What are the main concerns of companies or non-obvious difficulties that you encounter most often?

— I would highlight three key points. The first is working with the network. Customers are afraid that when they start the generator, everything will be unstable. We are often asked: "How will we work with the network in parallel? How to avoid overflows?". We explain that these are standard, proven questions, and help you figure out all the subtleties.

The second point is legal and technical. It happens that the accounting point and the flow control point where our equipment needs to be installed are located outside the enterprise, on the balance sheet of the network company. The question arises: how to get there and coordinate everything? We conduct a detailed audit and offer the client a choice of different solutions to this problem: either we implement the approval procedure, or we reconstruct the power grid or offer alternative options for installing equipment.

And the third one is the "bonus problem". Our installations generate associated heat. But it needs to be properly removed and used. Where should I send him? How to integrate into the existing system? And here we select the optimal engineering solution.

— Can you give an example where you helped not only save money, but radically change the situation?

— One of the recent bright solutions is for an enterprise that pays the city about 500,000 rubles each month for the opportunity to take heat. The fee is fixed, you use it in winter, not in summer, but you pay. We offered them to build a modern boiler house and install our gas piston complex. With this approach, they not only drastically reduce their heat costs, but also get their own cheap electricity.

The estimated payback period is 1.5–2 years. And in this case, due to double savings, it is reduced to 1-1.5 years. But last but not least, they get complete independence from rolling blackouts. Their mall used to be able to stay without light for several days 2-3 times a year. And with the new solution, this headache will no longer be there.

— And if there is no main gas, but there is associated gas, biogas or liquefied (LPG)? Are such projects even possible?

- of course. We have projects for remote sites, for example, in Siberia. It often happens that it is technically possible to connect to electrical networks, but the cost of technological connection is astronomical. Conditionally: pay 100 million rubles for the "tail" from the power line and then buy electricity for 10 rubles / kW or invest the same 100 million in your station and receive electricity for 5-6 rubles. The math is simple.

— Then what becomes the main barrier to making a decision if everything is clear with mathematics?

— Psychology. Central networks are common, albeit expensive. And the gas piston unit is something new, unknown. People are afraid that it's difficult, that it will break. Sometimes customers come with negative experiences: they bought it from another manufacturer, and the installation needs more repair than work. There is no economic effect, hence the general distrust of technology.

— And how do you change this stereotype?

— The most effective way is to bring the client to the place where the installation is already working. We organize visits to existing facilities for potential clients. Nothing is more convincing than a working piece of equipment and a direct conversation with colleagues who have been using it for a year or two.

— Tell us in a nutshell about your approach to the implementation of the project.

— It all starts with an honest expert analysis. We don't take on obviously impossible or inefficient tasks. If a metallurgical plant has specific loads, we will not advise buying and installing a GPU, as this is inefficient. We are always honest and open with our clients. Next is the stage—by-stage process: we analyze the needs, check the possibility and conditions of connecting gas, accompany all legal and technical procedures, develop a project and a solution for specific tasks. Our job is not just to sell the equipment, but to integrate it into the client's business processes so that it is reliable and profitable.

— Mikhail Yurievich, what would you like to wish to managers and business owners who are just considering the possibility of switching to their own generation?

— First of all, I would like to wish you the courage to look to the future. Don't be afraid to consider new technological solutions just because they seem complicated. There is an expert team behind every difficulty that knows how to overcome it. Come to us not as a hardware store, but as partners for a ready-made solution to your business problem. We are always ready to conduct a detailed analysis for you, show you the real economy and working facilities. And most importantly, let your energy be under your control, and let your business be stable and prosperous.

12 January 2026