Comment by the Chief Technologist of ANO «HTS» on the article by Alexey Kochetov

«In 2016, the Russian Ministry of Energy announced the economic viability of developing alternative energy sources in Russia. Since then, solar and wind power capacity in Russia has been increasing rapidly». 

According to current data (2023), the installed capacity of Wind Power plants and Solar Power plants in Russia slightly exceeds 2% of the total power plant capacity in the country. This amounts to approximately 5 GW. 

Has the capacity of these renewable energy sources increased dramatically?

«Meanwhile, the government has committed to supporting renewable energy until 2035 with a total budget of 350 billion rubles. Between 2024 and 2035, over 6 GW worth of Wind Power plants and Solar Power plants will be built with government subsidies»

 Is this a significant amount? 

It depends on how you compare it to other countries. For example, China has already invested heavily in renewable energy and has a much larger installed capacity. 

In the 11th issue of the Expert magazine for 2023, Evgeny Ogorodnikov reported that «last year, China commissioned 50 GW of new coal-fired thermal power plants. This year, according to the plans of the Chinese Communist Party, another 106 GW of new coal-fired power plants will be added to the country's energy mix. To put this into perspective, 1.6 gigawatts were added in Russia over the same period».

«China is therefore the first major economy to effectively move away from a 'green' course» 

«On December 13, 2022, at the Climate Ambition Summit, the leader of China also outlined several key goals for the country on the path to an ambitious target: by 2030, emissions are expected to decrease by 65% per unit of gross domestic product (GDP), and the forest area is expected to increase. The share of non-fossil fuels in total energy use is projected to reach 25%, and the installed capacity for wind and solar power generation will total 1,200 GW»

 By 2035, Russia will have 11 GW of Wind Power plants and Solar Power plants installed, and China will have 1,200 GW by 2030. 

For comparison, in 2022, electricity consumption in Russia grew by about 8% and 0.65% of the installed capacity was put into operation.