Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance commented to Davydov.Index the prospects for the renewable energy development in Russia:
"The main problem of renewable energy in Russia is that we have a small domestic market and this energy is uncompetitive in comparison with traditional. And, apparently, it will not be competitive in terms of the cost of the life cycle with either gas generation or nuclear one. In other countries, this is no longer the case in many ways – solar and wind generation can compete with nuclear and sometimes even with gas. In Russia, due to the very small market, generating companies and equipment manufacturers cannot take advantage of the scale effect.
This is a problem because all major equipment manufacturers rely mainly on the domestic market. Russia does not have such a market and its creation is not expected. In all promising energy balances, the share of renewable energy in our country is from 1% to 5%.
The strategic bet in our country continues to be placed on gas and nuclear power, because these are the cheapest types of generation in our conditions. In addition, they are most provided with domestic equipment, which, taking into account the sanctions, is especially important. So no one expects any breakthrough in the field of renewable energy in Russia, although it is developing quite quickly due to the effect of a low base. But all this development is based on state subsidies on the basis of the renewable energy development program (a program to stimulate the development of renewable energy generation by paying for capacity guaranteed for a certain time under a contract for the provision of capacity to the wholesale market - ed.). Without this, most of the stations that have already been built and are still being planned would not or will not be built.
The program includes three components: wind farms, solar and small hydroelectric power plants. Separate tenders are held for them, although the principles of capacity selection are the same: from 2021, the selection takes place depending on the full cost of the life cycle of the power plant and the amount of energy generated by it for the entire period of power supply. Thanks to the introduction of such a selection principle in 2021, it was possible to sharply reduce the price applications for solar and wind generation. But in 2022, there was no selection due to the difficult economic situation, and in this year's selection, the cost of applications returned to more or less the same parameters.
In the small hydrogenation and in 2021, no breakthrough in price applications was observed and the selection itself was lower than the calculated one. So there is a prospect for wind and solar generation in Russia, they will continue to develop, at least for the next 5.5 years. And, probably, for small hydrogenation, the renewable energy development program will be extended. But, I repeat, it does not play any significant role, and it will not play."
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