Page 141 - RusRPTJul21

· RusHydro is part of the CO2 trading system discussion in Russia and the mechanism is unclear so far. It is also part of the discussion on green certificates and has managed to ensure that large HPPs are now considered renewables. The company is expecting to sign I-REC agreements soon as well. More and more exporters are contacting the company about green supply, both bilateral contracts (currently the premium is 2-6 kopecks per MWh) and potentially certificates.
· There is currently no strategic buyer for the VTB stake, while VSMPO Avisma no longer has a stake in the company.
· It is too early to talk about the III Pricing Zone and competition in the region.
Inter RAO could increase its forecast for electricity exports in 2021 from 15mn MWh to 17-18.5mn MWh, Deputy CEO Alexandra Panina announced yesterday, 3 June, Interfax reported. In other news, Inter RAO also announced yesterday that Vostok Oil requires 3.5GW of installed capacity instead of the previous estimate of 2.5GW. This year has been especially favorable for electricity trading, as a cold 1Q21 in Europe and the recovery in electricity consumption due to the mitigation of COVID-19 already resulted in electricity exports doubling in 1Q21. Regarding the construction of infrastructure for Vostok Oil, Inter RAO will prepare design and survey documentation for the first phase of the project, which includes the gas turbine PP Irkinskaya (installed capacity of 867MW), a PP in North Bay (installed capacity of 214 MW) and a 100kV transmission line.
Peretok.ru has published a large interview with Unipro CEO Maksim Shirokov. The key messages are as follows.
● The reconstruction of unit 3 Berezovskaya GRES after the accident not only required a significant upgrade to engineering services (with the company planning to keep the division for other projects) but also led to a digital and safety/reliability transformation at all Unipro sites.
● Unipro does not expect personnel changes after the reconstruction at unit 3 has been finalised.
● RUB 18-20bn dividends in 2021 were reiterated (with the hope of hitting the upper bound). Unipro expects 2021 to be better than 2018, but probably slightly below 2020. According to the CEO, Unipro is to deliver on its promises in the coming years, with a preset level of dividends and a long-term plan.
● DPM2 remains the priority, with 4.15GW already selected. Management expects capex to decrease in the next few years; modernisation capex could reach RUB 5bn, annually (apart from maintenance capex and potential renewables investments). The company is looking for a balance between capex and dividends in order not to cut dividend payments significantly.
141 RUSSIA Country Report July 2021 www.intellinews.com