RusHydro experts do not agree with calculations of the Russian Government on development of renewable energy sources - they consider the plans overstated. Meanwhile another state corporation, RUSNANO, plans to double its assets in RES, and the industry refuses to centralized energy and builds its own power plants.
International "Ecodefence" Group has released a report "Overview of options for introducing renewable energy in the Russian Federation." Environmentalists believe that the potential for renewable energy is present in all regions of Russia, and without development of renewables the country and regions are doomed to technological backwardness, significant economic costs and a severe burden on the environment.
The Regulations for generating facilities changed on February 1, 2014, simplifying the procedure for qualification of the generation operating on renewable energy sources (RES) at wholesale and retail electricity markets. The time period for companies entering the market could reduce by several times. Representatives of environmental organizations hope that the number of barriers to development of energy alternatives in Russia will reduce and bring concrete results.
The first contest of investment projects for power station construction on the basis of renewable energy sources has started. So far, there are far too many solar applications, a deficit of wind ones, and total absence of any applications for hydro energy facilities.
The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation plans to create the map showing the potential for development of renewable energy in Russia. Until now, Russia has remained a "white spot" on the world map of energy alternatives.
Domestic transport becomes low-carbon: Russian Railways started to use biofuels, having installed about 300 boilers for pellets. Bioenergy in the country is developing. However, alcohol is the main "competitor" for the mass production of biofuels.
Mass media all over the world are filled with news that the rate of СО2 in the atmosphere has reached its historical maximum. 97% of global research proves that mankind is to blame for the irreversible climate change, Guardian has reported recently. Environmental NGOs believe that urgent abandonment of fossil fuel in favor of renewable power and energy efficiency can mitigate the consequences of the climate change.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) presented the world's first world interactive atlas of alternative energy. Some 40 countries are participating in the project. For the time being, Russia is not able to demonstrate its energy potential on the interactive map.
Renewable energy sources will take advantage, despite the fact that their starting base is insufficient. This is the opinion from the Energy Outlook 2030 report prepared by the British Petroleum oil company. Representatives of non-governmental environmental organizations are sure that the nature of consumption and the ratio of energy sources in the global energy sector are changing in such a way that representatives of “traditional” energy can no longer ignore this fact.
On October 19, the Fourth National Conference of the Russian Association of Wind Power Industry (RAWI) was held in Moscow. According to Ministry of regional development representative, wind energy development in Russia now is mostly depends of regional administrations. Climate change is also an additional argument for promotion of wind energy. Now 12 wind power stations (WPS) in Russia are under planning and experts say about intention to build 30 WPS more.