Industry Leaders Discuss the Environmental Transformation of the Energy Market at REW 2019

On 3 October 2019 the session ‘EU–Russia Partnership: Opportunities for the Environmental Transformation of the Energy Market’ was held at Russian Energy Week. The discussion was attended by global leaders in the energy sector and industry experts, including Johan Vanderplaets, Chairman, Association of European Businesses; President, Russia and CIS, Schneider Electric, Carlo Palasciano Villamagna, General Director, Enel Russia, David Campbell, President, BP Russia, Francois Borgida, Vice President of Country Delegate Russia, Total SA, Alexander Liberov, President, Siemens in Russia, and Maxim Shirokov, Chief Executive Officer, Unipro. Anton Inyutsyn, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation also took part in the discussion. The meeting was moderated by Ernesto Ferlenghi, Chairman of the Energy Committee, Association of European Businesses.

The speakers discussed the current trends in the energy agenda, such as cooperation between countries and business on the back of the environmental transformation of the global energy sector. The speakers focused on the responsibility of global corporations for the development of energy resources, the EU and Russia partnership in environmental matters, and the balance between green energy and innovation.

“Russia today is one of the leading global suppliers of energy resources. In our view there is tremendous unrealized potential for cooperation and joint investment projects, and we will continue to work to bring this potential to fruition. An important facet of such partnerships is the joint implementation of cross-border environmental projects and technologies,” said Anton Inyutsyn, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.

One of the central aspects of the discussion was devoted to how the innovations devised by European energy companies will help the domestic energy sector transform in line with the new environmental paradigm.

“A rapid way to increase the efficiency of electricity production in Russia is to modernize power plants by means of a gas-turbine topping at existing steam power units, which means a transition from a steam power cycle to a combined cycle. Siemens, together with its partners, has implemented such a solution at, for example, the Kirishskaya TPP in Russia. In the long run, the share of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and water will increase. This, along with the electrification of transport is creating new challenges for energy networks. They should have sufficient power for the more rapid and flexible distribution of electricity, and digital technologies should provide full control of this distribution, and they should also be capable of realizing the potential of excess capacity, through, for example, the use of electrical energy accumulation and storage systems or energy conversion into highly energy-intensive chemicals such as hydrogen,” said Alexander Liberov, President, Siemens in Russia.

The meeting participants noted that the global energy system in the near future will be very different from that of today due to the widespread introduction of renewable energy sources, the increasing empowerment of customers to make informed energy consumption choices, and the use of digital technologies in the industry.

The Russian Energy Week is organized by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation and the Roscongress Foundation with the support of Moscow Government.