October 4, 2017

Panel discussion at REW 2017: ‘The Future of the Electricity Industry: How Power Systems and Consumers Are Set to Change’

October 4, Moscow. – Energy industry experts met to discuss the future of Russian electricity as part of Russian Energy Week. Participants in the panel discussion included Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Kravchenko, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy Pavel Zavalny, Director General of Rosseti Pavel Livinsky, President and CEO of Fortum Corporation Pekka Lundmark, CEO of Gazprom Energy Holding Denis Fedorov, Head of the Republic of Buryatia Alexei Tsydenov, and CEO of Uniper Klaus Schäfer.

Participants agreed that global demand for electricity will increase by 25–30% over the next 20–30 years. The main sources of this increase in demand will be transport, industry, housing, and commercial property. According to Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Vyacheslav Kravchenko, the industry is set to undergo a significant technological transformation during this time, becoming more efficient in its consumption of energy resources, more environmentally friendly, and better focused on meeting the needs of the consumer. “The coming changes in production and distribution technology will impact the energy industry in a big way. Keeping in mind also Russia’s current position in the global energy market and that the country is a leading producer of energy resources, I don’t expect to see a significant move towards renewable generation”, Vyacheslav Kravchenko remarked.