Ministry of Energy preparing legislative initiatives to improve sustainability of Russian energy system

August 4, 2017

Ministry of Energy preparing legislative initiatives to improve sustainability of Russian energy system

The Russian Ministry of Energy is preparing a wide range of legislative initiatives that aim to improve the country’s energy security. Deputy Minister of Energy Andrei Cherezov, who oversees the electric power industry, spoke about the ministry’s plans. He said a legal document is already being prepared that will regulate interaction between electricity customers in a single region. “At present, companies operating in the same region act independently in the event of a power failure. There is no unified coordination between them. Once an agreement is in place between two or three structures on interaction and information exchange, the aftermath of disruptions in power supply can be rectified faster than it is now”, Cherezov explained.

Cherezov noted that he is opposed to the autonomous operation of energy companies given that operations are conducted within a unified energy system. “The Russian Ministry of Energy intends to identify areas of responsibility through regulatory legal acts. It will immediately be clear who is responsible for the system’s emergency control, who is responsible for infrastructure, and who is responsible for the settings”, Cherezov said.

Another change that the Ministry of Energy plans to implement to improve the Russian energy system’s resistance to external and internal threats is to require producers to disclose the turbine management software code. Cherezov said the possibility of interference in the operation of energy facilities from the outside needs to be limited. “An information security risk assessment we conducted at power facilities revealed that power equipment can be controlled remotely when transmitting and storing data via communication channels abroad, including shutdown”, Cherezov explained. This initiative could take effect by the end of 2017, he said.

Legal regulation in the power industry will be a separate topic for discussion during Russian Energy Week. Representatives of the Russian Ministry of Energy and specialized parliamentary committees will speak about these and other legislative initiatives in the industry. Industry experts and representatives of energy companies who may be directly affected by these changes are invited to participate in the discussion.

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