The Russian Renewable Energy Development Association (RREDA) or ARVE has said the Russian government on March 5, 2021 cleared Resolution No. 328 to support to the renewable energy sector between 2025 and 2035. The association is not too thrilled with some of the measures included in the decree.
It points out at the 'lack of clarity' and 'significant uncertainties in terms of the sustainability of the new rules' in the financial support available for renewable energy sources in the resolution that, the association believes, prevents investors from planning development of the industry for the next 15 years.
The decree contains provisions on 'excessive responsibility' of power generators for deviations from planned output indicators, disproportionate to the cost of such deviations, explained RREDA. For such deviations, the penalty on failing to meet the export target for solar power plants as well as for wind projects is fixed at 10% of the guaranteed payment during 2025-2029, increasing to 21% in 2030 and 2032, and during 2033-2035 it will reach 33%.
Referring to the decree, RREDA Director Alexei Zhikharev said, "The risks of such serious losses will be included in the price of projects and artificially hinder the achievement of price parity with traditional generation. Another question is the responsibility of investors for compliance with the planned production, in a number of scenarios it is several times higher than the cost of 'undersupply'. I would like to believe that a misprint has crept into the formula."
According to RREDA, the decree also includes provisions for fines for non-compliance with the requisite degree of local equipment use in the projects. For solar power plants it adds up to 85%, while for wind farms and mini-hydroelectric plants it is 75%.
The association elaborates that key parameters of the program are determined in the Order of the Government 1-r, which must be adopted before the publication of information on the next selection of investment projects for renewable energy sources, scheduled for May 2021. Currently, consultations are underway with the Ministry of Energy, the Market Council and the Government Office to sort out the creases.
Details are available on RREDA's website in Russian language.
15 MW solar project online
In a related development from the Russian Federation, Solar Systems LLC has grid connected a 15 MW solar project in the Republic of Bashkortostan, taking the company's total installed solar power capacity in the republic to 40 MW, and in the Russian Federation to 365 MW. The project was officially announced by the company as completed and operating in the Wholesale Electricity and Capacity Market on March 1, 2021.
The 15 MW Gafuri or Gafuriyskaya Solar Power Plant in the Gafuriysky district of Bashkortostan was built by the company for an investment of RUB 2.1 billion ($28 million) using 70% of locally produced equipment, in keeping with the government directives.
It is expected to generate 18,314 MWh clean energy in the 1st year of its generation in 2021, which the company says will be sufficient for over 20,000 households. The RREDA said Solar Systems LLC is also constructing 9.8 MW Agidel Solar Power Plant in Bashkortostan that it hopes to complete by the end of 2021.
A year back in February 2020 Hevel Group grid connected a 10 MW solar power plant in Bashkortostan's Burzyansky district with 8 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) (see 10 MW Solar & 8 MWh Storage Project Live In Bashkortostan).
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