Investors Wanted for the Arctic's Distributed Generation
The Far East and Arctic Development Corporation has taken part in the round table Energy Security of the Far North and Far East Regions, which was held at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation as part of the 7th international conference The Arctic: Sustainable Development.
11 March 2022The participants of the round table have come to the conclusion that the Russian science needs to step us its efforts to introduce renewable energy-based applied technologies for distributed power generation and local power supply.
A working group with the participation of heads of industrial, scientific organizations and regional ministries of energy and housing and communal services was created.
Energy security of facilities located in the Arctic region is a pressing matter. It is made even more pressing by the large-scale projects aimed at the development of the macro-region. To solve this problem, the round table participants have come up with a concept for attracting private investment in the energy sector.
"Businesses are ready to participate in the modernization of inefficient diesel, fuel oil and coal-fired generation, but the government needs to provide clear and transparent rules by which the industry will develop," says the round table moderator and chairman of the board of the non-profit partnership Eurosolar Russia Georgy Kekelidze.
At the same time, according to Vasily Potemkin, Deputy Director of the Department of Sectoral Expertise of the Far East Development Corporation, the electric power industry is a strategic industry of any state, the functioning of which is primarily based on large state-owned companies. The peculiarities of the industry in the Far East and the Arctic and the need to maintain a low level of electricity tariffs for consumers do not allow us to talk about the possibility of a large-scale influx of private investment in the industry. At the same time, the introduction of modern technological solutions to ensure local power supply can often be implemented faster and more efficiently by attracting an active business community.
"We interact with a significant number of responsible private companies that, on transparent terms of return on investment, are ready to invest their own funds in local energy facilities creation and modernization in the Far East and the Arctic, thus ensuring the energy security of the macro-region. We consider it expedient to provide state support to such investors in order to reduce the burden on the budget system and develop the technological business in the field of distributed generation. That is why we developed and successfully promoting the Concept of attracting private investment in this area. We invite all interested companies and investment funds to take part in this work" – concluded Vasily Potemkin.