Experts attending the “3 Ways to Make Your Business More Green” webinar organised by RAWI on 24 March 2022 agreed that the course towards decarbonisation of businesses in Russia will continue, as sustainability principles have long been a global trend and remain relevant, regardless of the changing economic agenda.
Renewable energy in general and wind power in particular are means to achieve a carbon-neutral economy and will continue to grow strongly even if the focus of domestic business interests shifts from European markets to East Asian markets.
Mikhail Yulkin, founder and CEO of CarbonLab, an expert on the economics of climate change, carbon regulation and implementation of the energy transition, told the audience about the following facts: according to Russian Greenhouse Gas Inventory Russia emits about 2.2bn tonnes of CO2 per year; up to 700m tonnes of emissions are compensated by Russian forests; the uncovered balance of emissions is about 1.5bn tonnes per year. At the same time, the emissions from burning Russian fuels amount to 2 billion tonnes of CO2. Given the rate of decarbonisation around the world, Russia risks losing these export volumes quite quickly. Replacement must be done at an accelerated pace. “There is, in my opinion, no other way but to accelerate investments in the development of renewable energy technologies in the energy sector, including energy storage systems, energy transmission systems, including hydrogen,” the expert stressed.
As an example of vigorous steps in this direction, Mikhail Yulkin cited initiatives to decarbonise the Sakhalin Oblast economy, where the focus is on developing renewable energy and hydrogen production, potentially green, as it is green energy that the world needs.
Sergey Anfimov, Head of Departments of Audit and Technological Expertise of NP Market Council, expert in the use of renewable energy and new technologies in the energy sector, stressed that the ESG agenda retains its importance in the new geopolitical realities. He elaborated on the most common ways of the businesses “greenification” with the help of contractual instruments – green bilateral contracts and certificates of origin of electricity in the world practice.
In addition, the expert spoke about the work to introduce modern tools designed to make energy consumption “more green” and the relevant IT infrastructure in Russia. He reported on the progress in promoting the draft law on generation attributes and certificates of electricity origin, as well as on the establishment of a voluntary system for coordinating the use of green contractual instruments by NP Market Council Association and the basic principles of its operation. In addition, Sergey Anfimov briefed the webinar participants on the pilot project of calculation and publication of the greenhouse gas emission factor related to electricity generation, which is jointly implemented by the NP Market Council Association and JSC TSA (wholesale market for electricity and power Trading System Administrator).
Igor Bryzgunov, Chairman of Russian Association of Wind Power Industry (RAWI), General Director of LLC Vetropark, an expert in the field of investments in renewable energy, implementation of wind power projects with subsequent supply of green energy under direct contracts to enterprises and power sales companies (utilities), told the webinar participants about how one of the “green tools” can be used in practice in Russia. He introduced the Sviritsa wind power plant project, which will start supplying green energy under free bilateral contracts as early as 2024.
Igor Bryzgunov also introduced the webinar participants to the RAWI initiatives designed to help the industry develop under sanctions pressure and considered at the level of the committee of the State Duma of Russia. Among them – obtaining by any legal means, including building up cooperation with friendly countries, technical documentation for the creation of several multi-megawatt-class wind turbines in Russia over the next one and a half to two years; reduction in the cost of production of components and the formation of an adequate cost of production of wind turbines by increasing volumes and creating competition in the market; providing state support for power engineering companies mastering the production of wind turbines in the Russian Federation; exemption from VAT until the payback period is reached for renewable energy facilities that sell electricity under direct bilateral agreements; settlement of land legislation by providing the possibility of building wind farms on the lands of the forest fund without transferring the land to the category of industrial land; exemption of newly constructed renewable energy facilities from payment for connection to power networks of the power grid operator.
Во второй части вебинара спикеры ответили на вопросы участников. В записи вебинар «3 способа озеленить свой бизнес» можно будет посмотреть на сайте РАВИ в разделе «Академия ВИЭ».
In the second part of the webinar, the speakers adressed questions from the participants. A recording of the “3 Ways to Make Your Business More Green” webinar will be available on the RAWI website in the RES Academy section.