The construction of wind farms is one of the important parts of the local government’s economic bloc’s efforts to reduce eco-risks.
As of today, the Leningrad Oblast has made it to the top of the ESG ranking among Russian regions. The rise was rapid, from eighth place to first (!) in one year. This is the result of the choice of ESG as a priority direction in 2021 by the committee of economic development and investment activity of the regional government.
ESG stands for ‘environment, social issues/policy and corporate governance’. Broadly speaking, it is sustainable business development that is built on the principles of environmental responsibility, high social responsibility and high quality corporate management.
A region ranks at the top of the Russian ESG ranking if it receives the lowest amount in the following three indicators. The authors of the study assess environmental and social risks, as well as project management efficiency. Leningrad Oblast in 2021 has the minimum sum of the three indicators: it is on the 3rd place in Russia in project management efficiency, on the 9th place on social risks, and on ecology – on the 13th. In comparison, St. Petersburg, which is in 2nd position in the ESG ranking, has 2, 4 and 54 indicators respectively.
In order to reduce environmental risks, the region in cooperation with the Centre for Strategic Research Foundation has undertaken to prepare a regional decarbonisation strategy. Wind power projects are being implemented, a modern waste management system is being created, and a network of EV charging stations is being built thanks to federal subsidies.
As a reminder, the first modern wind farm projects in Russia, implemented without state support, are scheduled to be commissioned in the region by the end of 2023. One of them is the Sviritsa wind farm. The wind farm will start supplying electricity and power to green energy buyers at the end of 2023 under 15-year contracts with a fixed price of 4.2 RUB (~0.050 EUR) per kWh. In the near future, the project investors plan to implement similar projects in the Northwestern Federal District with a total capacity of more than 700 MW.