By 2050, the European Union plans to move to a climate neutral level, as well as introduce transboundary carbon regulation. In the future, these actions may lead to a reduction in the volume of exports of Russian manufacturers. How to avoid this was discussed by the participants of the plenary session "Russian energy - the basis for long-term sustainable development of Russia".

Sergey Dregval, Vice Governor of St. Petersburg, greeted the participants and guests of the Forum on behalf of Alexander Beglov, Governor of St. Petersburg, and the City Government.

“In the Russian economy, the fuel and energy complex occupies an essential place and plays the role of a basic infrastructure, the main task of which is to provide maximum assistance to the socio-economic development of the country,” noted Sergei Georgievich. - I believe that the Forum's business program fully reflects the key priorities for the development of the Russian energy sector. I am sure that the largest industry players, international experts, equipment manufacturers and government officials at the Forum will be able to discuss the most important tasks facing the fuel and energy complex today. I wish you all interesting discussions and breakthrough solutions. "

Sergei Dregval noted that the 25th World Energy Congress will be held in St. Petersburg in 2022. “This is the world's leading energy forum,” the Vice Governor said. “It is very pleasing that our city, thanks to such events, is becoming a center for discussion of global issues that affect the development of world energy.”

Alexandra Panina, moderator of the discussion, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Association "Council of Energy Producers", is convinced that the country's energy industry can be proud of both the achievements of the last century and large-scale projects of our time: “The main large-scale solutions in the electric power industry were implemented in the last century. In the 21st century, we also do not stand still: over the past ten years, about 50 gigawatts of new power plants have been built in Russia. This is a large figure, comparable to the capacity of a small country. Over the past 10 years, there has been a large-scale program for the construction of new generating facilities: thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants, renewable energy facilities. And if at the beginning of the 20th century almost 100% of electricity was generated from coal, now we are on the threshold, or already beyond the threshold of the transition to a new energy model. "

Hydrogen energy is actively developing. According to the International Energy Agency, the world's hydrogen production will triple by 2023. A massive electrification of the transportation industry is under way, with total electric vehicle sales forecast to grow from 2.5 million in 2020 to 11.2 million in 2025, and then reach 31.1 million by 2030, according to Delloite. Electric vehicles will account for approximately 32% of the total new car market share. There is a rapid development of renewable energy sources: despite the crisis year 2020, 260 GW of renewable energy sources were commissioned in the world.

“Of course, the new global climate agenda under the Paris Agreement, which has 197 participants, has a huge impact on all sectors of the economy. Two countries have already met its conditions: Suriname (in 2014) and Bhutan (in 2018) have already achieved carbon neutrality due to low population density, weak industrial development, coupled with extensive forests. What's more, they now absorb more carbon dioxide than they produce. It is these global trends that are the subject of our discussion today,” said Alexandra Panina.

An important role in the development of the energy complex was played by its interaction with the sustainable development program. Mikhail Khardikov, CEO of Eurosibenergo, in his report “Sustainable development from the point of view of En + Group - the world leader in the production of low-carbon aluminum and renewable energy”, noted that Russian society is moving to a system of conscious consumption, when the citizens of the country are not indifferent to how resources are being processed, and where do they go.

“If we go back 10-15 years ago, I remember that even then the concept of sustainable development was discussed. During this time, it has been actively used. Now it's time for all of us to once again ask the main question: for whom do we produce electricity? ”, Mikhail Khardikov addressed those present.

Stepan Solzhenitsyn, General Director of Siberian Generating Company LLC, spoke about the fate of the coal business. In recent years, the European Union has been actively moving away from coal generation, which in their understanding is associated with environmental protection. However, Russia can take a different path.

“First of all, I would like to support the thesis that ecology is important to everyone. It is important for people what kind of air they breathe, what happens in water bodies, it is important for them what happens to garbage. There is no other option than being environmentally friendly. There will certainly be a withdrawal of old equipment. It was China that followed this path: it did not abandon coal as the basis of its economy, ”said Stepan Solzhenitsyn.

Alexey Zhikharev, director of the Association for the Development of Renewable Energy, is confident that 2020, despite the pandemic, broke all records, including those affecting climate projects.

“If we talk about the economy, the climate definitely affects it. The climate agenda creates an international market. Russia can profit from the fact that it begins to rebuild the economy, "the expert believes. According to him, companies should consider greening the energy balance as an attractive factor.

Mikhail Andronov, President of RUSENERGOSBYT, noted that the European Union will introduce a carbon tax on imported products with large greenhouse gas emissions from 2023. In fact, this tax will be levied on industrial consumers, including Russian exporters, and these funds will finance renewable energy projects in EU countries.

“The structure of electricity generation in Russia due to gas generation, nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants and renewable energy sources allows us to talk about the“ greenness ”of our production. It is necessary to achieve the recognition of "our" green certificates in the EU to confirm low-carbohydrate consumption and tax evasion for Russian exporters. All energy sources that support the production of carbon-free electricity as well as low-greenhouse gas emissions should be considered when defining low-carbon generating facilities. At the same time, it is important to provide access to the EU market for Russian companies to trade in “our” green certificates, ”noted Mikhail Andronov.

Dmitry Kholkin, head of the EnergyNet NTI Infrastructure Center, noted that hydrogen is a unique “clean” energy carrier that allows solving decarbonization issues. Potential volumes of hydrogen exports from the Russian Federation to the world market may reach 0.2 million tons in 2024, 2.0-7.0 million tons in 2035 and 7.9-33.4 million tons in 2050, depending on the rate of development of the global low-carbon economy; and the growth in demand for hydrogen in the global market. Thus, the expert notes, the production of low-carbon hydrogen should be considered a priority, including from fossil raw materials using carbon dioxide capture technologies, based on AETS (with carbon dioxide capture), water electrolysis based on nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants and electricity. energy systems, as well as on the basis of renewable energy sources in those regions and cases where the cost of hydrogen produced on the basis of such sources is competitive.

Alexander Khvalko, Deputy General Director of Rosenergoatom Concern JSC, considers digitalization to be the determining vector for the development of the electric power industry, which today sets the parameters for the development of the industry. From the point of view of the challenges of decarbonization, nuclear power is the safest source of energy in relation to the negative impact on the environment: the absence of CO2 emissions during electricity generation at nuclear power plants is due to the absence of fossil fuel combustion in the reactor. “Nuclear energy is a global response to the climatic challenges of the 21st century,” the expert notes.

Pavel Snikkars, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, noted that in modern conditions the key to efficiency is the ability to quickly adapt to changes in the environment, and the electric power industry is connected with all spheres of the economy. The speaker believes that the electric power industry is a supporting industry, on which both the efficiency of current activities and the development parameters of the entire economy depend. At the moment, the task of improving the quality of human life comes to the fore, including in the context of the climate and environmental agenda. At the same time, traditional generation remains the backbone of the Russian energy system for 10-15 years, and it is necessary to introduce technologies to reduce pollutant emissions.

Semyon Sazonov, General Director of PJSC “Quadra - Power Generation", stressed that 80% of the population of Russia is connected to centralized heat supply systems. Today, the expert noted, there is a unique opportunity to create new mechanisms for attracting investments in cogeneration and infrastructure, including through concession agreements. It is important to find approaches to modernizing the entire system: from source to consumer.

Ayrat Sabirzanov, First Deputy General Director - Director for Economics and Finance of Tatenergo JSC, stressed that the key task of the industry development is to increase energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. At the moment, taking into account the importance of cogeneration, it is important to focus on the implementation of projects for the modernization of generating capacities of thermal power plants using innovative CCGT units.

The participants in the discussion agreed that a full life of people on renewable energy resources is possible. The vector for the development of renewable energy sources and calls for the refusal of carbon fuels, the development of hydrogen energy and new types of consumption do not exclude traditional energy. By 2050, the World Energy Agency will leave a rather significant role of traditional fossil sources in the global energy balance, almost 43%: coal 21.6%, gas 21%.

The climatic and geographical conditions of Russia - cold weather and the need to provide people with thermal energy - retain the importance of traditional energy, but do not exclude the development of new types of generation. It is necessary to revise the approach to the organization of Russian thermal power plants with an emphasis on improving energy efficiency. As part of the climate agenda, it is important to find a balance both in energy costs and in the stages of development of the electric power industry.