AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL BUSINESSES IN THE
ENERGY SECTOR: FEATURES OF HIGHLY INTELLIGENT PROJECTS’ EVOLUTION
a
ALEXANDER GURINOVICH,
b
ILYA AFANASIEV,
VLADIMIR CHURIN,
c
VALERIA PEREKRESTOVA,
d
OLEG
TOLMACHEV
a
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO
University), Vernadskogo Avenue, 76, Moscow, Russia, 119454
b
Financial University under the Government of the Russian
Federation, (Financial University), Leningradskiy Avenue, 49,
Moscow, Russia, 125167
c
Moscow Automobile and Road Construction State Technical
University (MADI), Leningradskiy Avenue, 64, Moscow, Russia,
125319
d
Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Vtoraya
Baumanskaya Street, 5/1, Moscow, Russia, 105005
email:
a
gurinovich.a.g@mail.ru
Abstract: One of the main conditions for sustainable development of the economy is a
sufficient amount of resources necessary for its running. The scientific and
technological development constantly stimulates increase in the energy efficiency that
is especially important for small and medium-sized enterprises. The article discusses
the development opportunities and prospects of small and medium-sized
entrepreneurial businesses in the energy sector through the project development based
on the synthesis of Smart Grid and Green Economy.
Keywords: renewable energy source, green economy, intelligent networks, small and
medium-sized entrepreneurial businesses, power industry, energy saving, energy
efficiency, smart grid.
1 Introduction
Economic growth largely depends on the development level of
country’s energy industry, which represents the basis for all
economic sectors’ functioning, i.e. contributes to the formation
of a significant portion of GDP, as well as meets the needs of the
population in household electrical energy. The most effective
ways to solve this problem include:
1)
improving the energy efficiency of the economy so that to
reduce the energy costs by reducing the amount of energy
consumed;
2)
developing alternative energy.
Small and medium-sized businesses, especially in the
agricultural sector, often have sufficient capacity to produce their
own energy through the use of solar, wind, water, land, and
biomass; and thus they can become independent from a single-
source energy provider. In addition, to gain a competitive
advantage, these businesses may be interested in implementing
ISO energy standards.
Thus, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are
particularly interesting research objects in the context of energy
saving and energy efficiency, since, on the one hand, they are
significant consumers of fuel and energy resources, and on the
other hand, they are one of the main implementers of energy
saving and energy efficiency policies, and can provide energy
services, energy management services, energy audit, as well as
carry out design and construction works, etc.
Based on the generalization of pioneer theoretical models of
energy consumption (the doctrines of the differentiated limited
growth of M. Mesarovich and E. Pestel; World-1, World-2, and
World-3 models of J. Forrester and D. Meadows; V. Leontief
and D. Ford models of static intersectoral ecological-economic
interaction, etc.), it can be concluded that each of these models
serves a constructive tool for analyzing the types and forms of
attracting energy resources in public production. At the same
time, in the context of exhaustion of the industrial potential of
social progress and reduction of traditional resources of
economic growth, the theory of the third industrial revolution
proposed by Rifkin [1] is the most adequate explanation of
modern transformational changes in the energy paradigm of
global economic development. According to this theory, today
there is a transition from the second industrial revolution, which
was based on hydrocarbon energy, atomic and nuclear energy, to
the third industrial revolution, whose core is the generation,
storage, accumulation, and distribution of energy through the so-
called Smart Grids.
The use of highly intelligent networks, such as Self Monitoring
Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART Grid), which is a
technology that provides its own monitoring and the ability to
transfer monitoring results to the network management center, is
a promising trend to improve managerial efficiency in the energy
sector.
The most large-scale programs and projects based on the
application of the Smart Grid concept are developed and
successfully implemented in the USA, Canada, European Union,
China, India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and in fact are the
state policy in technological development of the electric power
industry of the future [2, 3].
In addition, climate change makes the seventh goal of the
Sustainable Development Goals of the UN relevant worldwide.
This goal concerns the promotion of environmentally friendly
energy operating based on renewable energy sources. According
to S. Vento, CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, by 2050, the
world economy will have to invest 350 trillion USD in
alternative power generation to stop climate change on the
planet.
At this stage of building a Smart Grid, it is necessary to highlight
the possibility of synthesis of Smart Grid and Green Economy.
The global trend of the green economy is to increase energy
efficiency and reduce the use of resources for products
manufactured by reducing the production cost and raw materials’
processing. The main goal of the green economy is reducing the
impact on the environment through the use of highly efficient
mechanisms to manage economic processes [4, 5].
At that, this is related to the strengthening of vertical integration
of the industry sector: an increase in the number of SMEs, as
well as hierarchical levels of management and the amount of
processed information, the need to manage large organizational
amounts of information within a single business process,
strengthening centralized control both on the part of the power
supply companies’ management and the state.
2 The Relevance of the Highly Intelligent Projects’
Development in the Energy Sector and their Relation to the
Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation
The relevance of the development of highly intelligent energy
projects in the Russian Federation is determined by the Energy
Strategy for the period up to 2030 [6], as well as by a number of
other regulations.
In particular, the priority areas of scientific-and-technological
advance in the energy sector defined by the Energy Strategy of
Russia include "the formation of integrated intelligent system-
forming and distribution electric networks of a new generation
(high-intelligence Smart Grids), the implementation of
automated metering and demand management systems for
energy, the widespread use of alternative energy and projects
based on renewable energy sources (RES)" [6].
The need for the development and implementation of mentioned
areas is caused by a number of problems arising in this field.
First of all, this is due to the continued depreciation of the main
equipment of existing power plants and networks, where the
proportion of obsolete equipment exceeds 40%, an increase in
electric energy losses in electrical networks is more than 1.5
times, and an increase in the specific number of personnel - more
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