Russia announced a tender to build 1.25 GW of renewable energy capacities by 2023

By Swann Bigot, legal expert and consultant in international affairs, for Eurasia Network – May 30, 2018

Wind turbines, May 2017 – Source : S.B.

A competitive tender over investment projects for the construction of renewable energy capacities in the Russian Federation from 2019 to 2023 was launched on May 29, announced in a press release the Russian “NP Market Council” (the Russian energy market regulator).

The tender volume has been set at 1.25 GW of wind, solar and hydro power new capacities. Another similar auction took place in June 2017.

Several wind power projects will be selected during the current competition: for 2019 – a total capacity of 100 MW, for 2021 – 229.94 MW and for 2023 – 500 MW.

Solar power projects with a total capacity of 35.002 MW, 77.6 MW and 37.6 MW will be selected for installation respectively in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

The competitive tender also covers hydropower projects reaching a capacity of 109.2 MW in 2020, 10.7 MW in 2021, 10.7 MW in 2022 and 138.96 MW in 2023.

The selection of investment projects will be carried out in two stages, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm : the first stage from May 29 to June 4, 2018 and the second stage from June 5 until June 9, 2018.

Read also : The Danish Vestas will build its first blade factory in Russia

Applicants will have the right during the second stage of the tender to submit updated applications for projects which have been included in the list of accepted applications following the results of the first stage. However, the amount of “planned capital expenditures” presented by applicants cannot exceed the previous one presented during the first stage, explained the press release of the Russian NP Market Council.

The application for participation in the selection of renewable energy projects must be signed with electronic signature and sent to the ATS (Russian Administrator of Electricity Trading System) in electronic form. The information necessary to take part in the competitive tender over renewable energy capacities in the Russian Federation for 2019-2023 was published on the official website of the ATS on March 7, 2018.  The legal framework of applications is available on the website of NP Market Council.

Planned volumes of power required for the years from 2019 until 2023 (MW) :

Generating facilities based on renewable energy sources that will be installed in the Russian Federation	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Wind power plants	100	–	229.94	–	500
Solar power plants	35.002	–	77.6	37.6
Hydropower plants with a capacity less that 25 MW	–	109.2	10.7	10.7	138.96

This competitive tender takes place as the Russian Federation is developing its wind power and solar power capacities and several projects with foreign investors are carried out across the country.

New wind farms in the Ulyanovsk oblast

The first 35 MW wind farm of Russia, built by the Finnish company Fortum near the city of Ulyanovsk, officially started to supply electricity to the local power grid last January.

Moreover, Fortum and the Russian state corporation Rusnano secured six wind farm projects with total capacity of 236 MW in the Ulyanovsk oblast by 2021 according to official results of the federal tender on renewable energy capacities held in June 2017.

Both companies will build two wind farms totaling 36 MW by December 2020 and four wind farms of 50 MW of capacity each by December 2021. The Ulyanovsk Regional Development Corporation is now conducting wind measurement operations in three districts.

Read also : Italian company Enel will build the largest wind farm in Arctic

Authorities of the Ulyanovsk oblast consider to reach 1 GW of wind power capacity by 2024, as stated the Governor Sergey Morozov during the Russian Investment Forum held in Sochi in February 2017.

The Leningrad oblast will host wind power capacities

The Russian energy company TGC-1 signed during the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (May 24-26) an agreement with the Leningrad oblast administration over the construction of a 50 MW wind farm on the cost of the Gulf of Finland, reported the press agency TASS.

The new wind power plant will be located on a 120 hectares area, near the village of Bolshaya Izhora at the West of Saint Petersburg, where 12 or 14 wind wind turbines with a capacity of 3.5 to 4.2 MW each will be installed.

Alexander Drozdenko, the Governor of the Leningrad oblast, said that “the region is one of the few in Russia where the development of wind energy can bring maximum benefit. Moreover, it will diversify the power generation system of the oblast and will increase its reliability.”

New wind power plants in the Stavropol krai

The Finnish company Fortum would build several wind farms reaching more than 200 MW of capacity by 2020 in the Stavropol krai, reported the local administration. This will be the largest wind power project ever carried out in the Russian Federation. The Governor of the Stavropol krai Vladimir Vladimirov and the General Director of PAO Fortum Alexander Chuvaev agreed on this ambitious project during a meeting in the frame of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (May 24-26).

The Russian company VetroOGK (subsidiary of Rosatom) is also interested in wind power projects in the region and its General Director Alexander Korchagin met the Governor Vladimir Vladimirov to discuss the construction of wind power plants with a total capacity amounting to 380 MW and investment reaching more than 20 billion rubles (275 million euros), informed the local administration. An agreement was signed in February 2018 during the Russian Investment Forum held in Sochi. Engineers of VetroOGK are now investigating the potential areas of the wind farms, which would be achieved between 2020 and 2022.

Read also : Dutch company will build a 150 MW wind farm in Russian Caucasus

Lastly, the Italian group of power companies ENEL would be interested in the construction of large wind power capacities in the Stavropol krai, Russian Caucasus.

Indeed, Francesco Starace, CEO and General manager of ENEL since May 2014, discussed a project of construction of wind farms with the Governor Vladimirov on May 25 in Saint Petersburg. The Italian company could build up to 300 MW of wind power capacity in the region. After this meeting the Governor Vladimir Vladimirov and the General Director of PAO Enel Russia Carlo Palasciano signed a cooperation agreement .

New solar farms in Southern Russia

The regions which do not generate enough energy and must import electricity from neighboring territories are turning to renewable energy solutions, such as solar power. The Republic of Kalmykia, the Astrakhan oblast and the Samara oblast, located in the South of the Russian Federation, are among them.

Thus, Hevel Group, a joint venture between Renova Group and Rusnano, plans to build solar power stations in the Republic of Kalmykia reaching a total capacity of 75 MW by 2022. The agreement was signed by the Head of the Republic Alexey Orlov and the CEO of Hevel Group Igor Shakrai during the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (May 24-26).

Read also : 135 MW of solar farms by 2019 in Southern Russia

The Russian company started in May the upgrade of the 15 MW solar farm “Niva” achieved last March in the Privolzhskiy Raion of the Astrakhan oblast. The capacity of this solar power station will be increased to 75 MW, becoming the largest generating facility of this kind in the country. Hevel Group now operates a portfolio covering 434 MW of solar power capacities across the Russian Federation.

Last February, the Republic of Kalmykia signed an agreement with the Russian company Solar Systems (subsidiary of the the Chinese Amur Sirius Power Equipment Co. Ltd), over the construction by 2019 of a 25 MW solar power plant for a global investment of 3.6 billion rubles (50 million euros).

Read also : A new solar farm opened in Southern Russia

The portfolio of OOO Solar Systems now covers 335 MW of solar power capacities, gathering 15 stations in 6 regions of the Russian Federation. The Zavodskaya Solar Power Plant (15 MW) was achieved and launched in the Astrakhan oblast in 2017.

This oblast is known to be the sunniest region of Southern Russia, with more than 300 sunny days per year and hosts industrial capacities. Therefore, this is an ideal spot to develop solar power.

Another 15 MW solar power station opened on May 15 in the Astrakhan oblast, providing electricity 17,000 inhabitants while the Samara oblast will also receive a 25 MW solar power plant this year.

All these ambitious wind and solar power projects in several regions will help to meet the official target of 3.6 GW of wind power capacity and 1.5 GW of solar power capacity in the Russian Federation by 2024.

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© Copyright 2018 – Swann Bigot, lawyer and consultant in international affairs.

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