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also consider expanding the Sakhalin pilot project experience to other regions of the country. The law on emissions is one of the documents that is currently under consideration to allow Russia to align its policies with the Paris Climate Agreement. The news is supportive, confirming that the legislation is moving on, while the statement on the possibility of a CO2 trading system suggests that this option is still being considered in the longer term (it was excluded from the initial draft of the law on emissions). Along with the development of the green certificates mechanism, this implies that Russia is looking to become greener and potentially get ready for the EU carbon tax.
The Ministry of Energy had abandoned the idea of lifting fines for renewable DPM delays in 2021, on 24 February, Interfax reported. The proposed adjustment did not manage to pass public discussion. It was decided that the initiative could negatively affect not only the construction of renewables DPM, but also other sectors of economy, including the effect on electricity consumers. In addition, it was claimed that the adjustment was too vague and needed to define particular circumstances that led to the delays. Any decisions on the potential removal of fines would be decided by the Market Council and need to confirm a force majeure
Large industrial consumers had requested that generating companies be forced to allocate the funds from the elevated indexation of KOM prices for 2022-25 toward repairing and modernising old equipment. The Council of Electricity Consumers estimates this at RUB 172.8bn for 2022-25. The government has said that the issue needs to be examined, while the Ministry of Energy and Industrial Production seems to be supportive. Gencos, though, oppose the motion as the current rules already imply fines if they under-deliver on capacity.
Russia’s System Operator announced the preliminary results of the KOM selection for 2026. The preliminary price for Zone I is RUB 194.9k/MW-mo, while for Zone II it is RUB 299.35k/MW-mo. This implies 0.9% growth of the base for Zone I and a 1.3% YoY reduction for Zone II. The total volume stood at 157,923MW in Zone I and 43,193MW in Zone II. The final results are due to be announced by 19 February.
Ukraine plans to disconnect from the Belarusian and Russian energy systems by the end of 2023 and integrate into the European one, the country's Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on February 23 reported Tass. His comments follow from acting Energy Minister Yuriy Vitrenko who made similar comments last week. Both comments come after Ukraine imported more power from Belarus in just January than it did in all of 2020. Ukraine is close to an energy crisis as coal supplies to run its own power plants have fallen to dangerously low levels as a result of an especially cold winter. At the same time Belarus’ new Ostrovets (aka Astravyets) nuclear power plant (NPP) went online at the end of last year and reached 100% capacity in January. The
122 RUSSIA Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com