KEY CONCLUSIONS
During the energy transition, Russia needs to bolster the development of nuclear energy and cooperation with other countries
“Today, the share of nuclear power [in global energy output] is around 5–7% on average. There are countries where this figure reaches 80%, for example, France. In our country, nuclear power accounts for 20% today. The president has set the goal of increasing the share of nuclear energy to 25% by 2040. Today, as part of the development and consideration of the energy balance for this period, we are also looking at the construction of new modern units that have been developed by our nuclear industry, Rosatom, and science, which are handling these issues. I believe this is the future,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
“Nuclear power is among the cleanest energy sources in terms of its cleanliness, output per kWh, and CO2 emissions. Wind power is perhaps the only other one in first place in terms of emissions,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
“The energy transition involves replacing conventional hydrocarbon sources with new types of energy and modern pure types as well as increasing the share of sun, wind, hydrogen, nuclear generation, hydroelectricity, and so on in the energy balance. So, of course, we are cooperating with other countries in this regard, because this is a common global agenda. We are interested in cooperation and working out joint developments,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
The ESG agenda and the use of green certificates at companies have become trends
“We have such a concept as ESG. You probably know this well. All companies seek to obtain the appropriate certification and ESG assessment, so that there is concessional lending and an appropriate attitude towards the company. Today, companies are buying green certificates that confirm the generation of electricity from clean energy sources. For example, sources from renewable solar, wind, or hydroelectric power plants. This is definitely a trend,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
PROBLEMS
Increased energy consumption and shortcomings in alternative energy generation technologies
“Hydrocarbons will have a dominant position in the energy balance for many decades to come because global energy consumption will increase based on the fact that the Earth’s population will grow […] More and more electricity will be consumed […], even as part of the development of electric vehicles and various digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and large databases. All of this requires an enormous, tremendous amount of energy. This growth must be supported, and it’s clear that this can’t be done in the coming decades only with solar, wind, and renewable energy sources,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
“The climate agenda is in trend. Generally speaking, wind farms have already been in operation since the 1980s, I think. They are completing their service life. Some estimates show that a huge number of them – tens of thousands of wind turbines – will need to be disposed of already in 2023. The question of what to do with these blades hasn’t been fully resolved yet,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
The need to create eco-friendly transport and infrastructure
“The development of [eco-friendly transportation] is inevitable. People want to drive eco-friendly vehicles. So, it’s essential to create the appropriate infrastructure in order for more and more electric vehicles to be produced and purchased. The Russian government is well aware of this, and such a programme for the development of charging infrastructure has already been adopted as part of the drafting of a socioeconomic development strategy and socioeconomic initiatives that were initiated by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. Money will be allocated to provide support and subsidies, the programme will be implemented, and we will stimulate the development of the construction of the appropriate charging infrastructure,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
“In September, our university became one of the winners of the Priority 2030 Strategic Academic Leadership Programme, in which one of the projects is the development of electric transport and charging infrastructure. We also received a subsidy from the Russian government to build a mobile charging station for electric vehicles with energy storage [...] In September, we opened a charging station near the new fourth dormitory because we see promise in this,” representative of Kazan State Energy University Rafael Askarov said.
SOLUTIONS
Develop nuclear and hydrogen energy in Russia together with corporations and companies
“In terms of collaboration on the development of hydrogen energy, the Russian government has approved a working group that includes representatives of all companies that are dealing with this topic. This includes Gazprom, Rusnano, Rosatom, and others. We have several dozen companies working in this area today. Of course, it also involves collaboration with scientists,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
“A new promising trend is small-scale nuclear power, i.e. plants with capacity of 5 to 100 MW, which will enable us to provide small and remote settlements with energy and ensure the supply of such units on floating structures, such as the floating small nuclear power plant we are already operating in Chukotka. This is a market that will be quite large in the future,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
“For Russia, which is a leading country and a world power in the energy industry, as you know, for us this [energy transition] is a great chance to remain a technological leader, remain a world power during the energy transition, and ensure the diversification of both conventional energy and the development of new clean energy, which will help to reduce emissions and improve the climate situation in accordance with the Paris Agreement, which, among other things, our country has ratified,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
Russia has advantage of its own lithium reserves to create energy storage systems
“Russia also has solution-based lithium in underlying layers, for example, under the Kovykta field, which has now been developed and from which gas is being extracted for delivery to the Power of Siberia [pipeline]. Gazprom and Irkutsk Oil Company just recently signed an agreement on the development of a lithium field near the Kovykta field. So, our country has its own resources in this case,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
For more, see the Roscongress Foundation’s Information and Analytical System roscongress.org.