AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
The current Russian renewable energy production potential is
shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Russian renewable energy production potential [9]
Types of power
plants
RES potential, bln kWh
Technological
capacity
Economic
capacity
Industrial
capacity
Hydropower
plants with
capacity <25
MW
372
205
6-10
Wind power
plants
6,517
32,6
70-90
Geothermal
power plants
34,905
335
40-60
Biomass-based
thermal power
plants
412
203
90-130
Tidal power
plants
253
61.6
16-45
Solar power
plants
2,714
435
5-10
In accordance with the major public policy in the field of energy
efficiency, Russian government plans to increase the proportion
of RES in the production and consumption of electric energy in
Russia from 1.5% in 2010 to 2.5% in 2015, and to 4.5% in 2020
[10].
At that, in fact, competition is noted only among the objects of
solar generation. In particular, in 2014, 33 investment projects
on solar power engineering with the total planned capacity of
505 MW were selected. Among them, 5% of capacity were
commissioned in 2015, 8% - in 2016, 31% - in 2017, and 56% -
in 2018. The average amount of capital investment as of 2015
reached 78 thousand rubles/MW [10]. The projects were
implemented in Russian regions with increased solar activity,
namely, the South of the country and Siberia.
In accordance with the limited capital investment and installed
capacity targets given in the Russian Federation Government
Resolution of 28.05.2013 No. 861-R, the amount of investment
in renewable energy facilities by 2020 will have to exceed 480
bln rubles. At that, it is planned to invest in the wind energy
facilities about 230 bln rubles, in the solar energy facilities –
more than 150 bln rubles, and in a small hydro generation –
more than 100 bln rubles [11].
At first glance, the expected increase in the number of RES
seems rather insignificant. As of the current date, the proportion
of alternative power engineering in the energy balance of Russia
does not exceed 1.5-2%. However, in case of effective
implementation of the state program, a fairly serious basis will
be formed for the further development of high-intelligence
energy projects based on renewable energy and Smart Grid that
will give an additional impetus to the development of small and
medium-sized businesses in this industry sector.
5 Analysis of Existing High-Intelligence Projects in the Field
of RES and Smart Grid-Based Power Engineering
Greenpeace International environmental organization suggests in
its report entitled "Energy revolution: The path to Russia's
energy security system" quite an ambitious scenario for the
development of alternative energy in the Russian Federation.
The report is based on the review of international documents and
recommendations of scientists of the UN Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). According to the Greenpeace
scenario, available and cheap hydrocarbon resources will be
exhausted in the coming decades. [12]. The report contains
proposals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the Russian
energy sector by 78% by 2050 compared to 1990 and the
abandonment of nuclear energy by 2030. As specified in this
report, in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to the
required level, Russia will have to make maximum use of energy
efficiency and renewable energy. In the production of electric
energy, the proportion of renewable sources should be 18.5%
(including large hydropower plants), while in heat supply - about
2% [12].
The proportion of RES in thermal power engineering will exceed
68% by 2050. Centralized heat supply will be largely replaced
by geothermal energy, biomass-based energy, and solar
collectors. Since 2020, the role of electric vehicles will increase.
By this time, the proportion of primary energy produced by RES
will reach 14%, while by 2050, about 57% of primary energy
will be produced based on alternative energy sources.
According to the data for 2017, in the Russian Federation, there
were up to 20 wind and 20 solar power plants, of them more than
50% were built in the Crimea (isolation of the energy system of
the Peninsula is an objective explanation for this fact). More
than 60 solar and 12 wind plants were at the design and
construction stages.
The report presented by the National Rating Agency notes that
according to the data of 2013-2015, the results of the
competitive selections indicate that the development of RES
projects in the Russian Federation is uneven: the most actively
implemented projects are based on the photoelectric conversion
of solar energy. At the same time, the target parameters of state
programs envisage percentage of wind energy generation equal
to 60%, while the percentage of small hydro generation (up to 25
MW) is 13% of the total energy generated from RES [13]. Other
types of alternative energy have not been widely reflected in
policy documents, while statistics are not available at the
sectoral level. At the same time, one can mention some cases of
effective implementation of projects in the segments of
geothermal and biofuel energy.
According to data for 2018, Russia is implementing two major
projects in the field of green energy, which are Orskaya Solar
Power Plant named after A.A. Vlaznev and the wind farm in the
Ulyanovsk Region.
Describing RES projects in terms of energy efficiency, one can
highlight the following advantages of their application:
performing an innovative role in the highly intelligent
development of the national economy and energy;
saving financial and natural resources and serving as a
highly profitable source of capital investment in the future;
providing opportunities to improve national and regional
energy security;
reducing harmful emissions into the environment;
solving large-scale problems of traditional energy markets
distribution and transformation.
Thus, renewable energy has become in the last decade a dynamic
segment of the Russian energy market, which plays a
compensatory role in total energy consumption. The key factors
of its development are a significant reduction in the cost of
technology development in this area, an increase in the level of
environmental taxation of the business sector, and large-scale
government support of energy efficiency projects.
6 Development Prospects of Small and Medium-Sized
Entrepreneurship in the Field of Energy Efficiency and
Energy Saving
For an individual enterprise, improving energy efficiency should
lead to a decrease in the proportion of fuel and energy in the cost
of products and services, as well as increase profitability,
competitiveness and, as a consequence, the market value of the
company.
The main measures aimed at improving energy efficiency are the
implementation of effective technologies, modernization of
equipment, reduction of energy intensity of technological
processes, replacement of traditional fuels with alternative ones,
etc.
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