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Challenging Aspects of the Legal Regulation of the Use of Renewable Energy Sources in the Russian Federation
 
PIIS231243500022455-8-1
DOI10.18572/2410-4396-2021-1-84-89
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Leonid Yu. Akimov 
Affiliation: Kutafin Moscow State Law University
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameEnergy law forum
EditionIssue 1
Pages84-89
Abstract

The article reviews challenging aspects of the legal regulation of the use of renewable energy sources taking into account the results of the law enforcement practice and the focus on digitization of the electric grid complex. The author justifies the expediency of the introduction of comprehensive legal grounds for the use of MicroGrid systems with RES generation elements by grid operators. It is suggested to give a legal definition of MicroGrid considering the possibility to include RES generation and electric energy accumulators in such system as well as the admissibility of their use by grid operators to carry out their primary activities of electric energy transfer within a specific electric power supply reliability category (MicroGrid as a means of upgrading at a consumer’s request); carry out their primary activities of technological connection when an alternative in the form of construction or reconstruction of the existing grid is impossible from the engineering standpoint and/or economically ineffective.

Keywordsenergy law, legal regulation of the use of renewable energy sources, digitization of the electric grid complex
Received16.01.2021
Publication date01.03.2021
Number of characters19788
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1 Reviewing the current status of the legal regulation of the use of renewable energy sources (hereinafter referred to as “RES”) in the Russian Federation from the standpoint of identification of the key problems to be solved on the statutory level in the nearest future, one should note that the time to speak of the creation of a consistent legal regulation system has not come yet.
2 It is obvious that although the significance of renewable energetics as the “energy future” of the humanity is acknowledged on the global scale, there are unfortunately objective reasons why, unfortunately, it cannot compete with traditional energetics on equal market conditions and on a completely independent basis. Taking into account the commissioned generating capacities and target performance of the designed generating objects functioning based on the use of renewable energy sources, the total production of electric energy by the whole RES sector will exceed the level of 12 billion kWh by 2025 accounting for only to 1% of the electric energy production and consumption balance, while the target value is 4.5% by 2024.
3 [1] Speaking of economic and legal regulation models applied by different countries, all of them are encouragement models, i.e. create conditions for the development and application of technologies using various forms of state support and public-private partnership.
4 The Russian laws have started to develop in the same way.
5 The development of the legal regulation of support of RES use in the electric power industry started in 2007. At that time, the first attempt in the Russian legal system at comprehensive regulation of social and economic relationships considering the specifics of RES use was made (Federal Law No. 250-ФЗ of November 4, 2007, On Amending Certain Legal Acts of the Russian Federation in View of Implementation of Measures Aimed at the Reformation of the Unified Energy System of Russia).
6 The establishment of a two-tier system of support of RES use in the electric power industry has become the result of their consistent implementation: the mechanism of capacity delivery agreements (CDA) in the wholesale market and the mechanism of obligatory purchase of electric energy generated with the use of RES by grid operators to compensate for losses in electric grids in retail markets.
7 The two most important documents issued in 2009 defined the RES development trend were the Main Areas of the State Policy in Raising the Energy Efficiency of the Electric Power Industry Based on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources for the Period until 2035 approved by Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1-р of January 8, 2009, (hereinafter referred as the “Main Areas”) and The Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation for the Period until 2030 approved by Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1715-р of November 13, 2009. The main emphasis from the standpoint of the target RES use development model has been initially on the Energy Strategy, taking into account the Main Areas. Thus, the special strategy section dedicated to the use of RES and local fuel types has directly stated the need to reach the target values of the total share of electric energy production with the use of RES generation as states in the Main Areas with the help of systematic state support measures. The above documents have also directly named the wholesale market resources as the main economic source of RES encouragement.
8 Although the legal system of RES encouragement in the Russian Federation has already travelled a rather long way and undergone a number of adjustments, it is the shift of the legal model towards the role of support mechanisms applied on the wholesale market for the whole duration of the system establishment and development against the background the changed world economic reality that is not an insignificant factor of negative influence on the efficiency of RES technology deployment in the energy sector.
9 The legal bases for the origination of relationships that can indirectly affect the RES use development have also started to emerge lately, namely the mechanisms of encouragement of the application of electric energy of microgeneration objects by consumers and the legal institutionalization of the use of electric energy accumulators in the energy system that are, inter alia, applied to ensure stability of the RES generation functioning schedule (Federal Law No. 471-ФЗ of December 27, 2019, On Amendment of the Federal Law On the Electric Power Industry in Terms of Microgeneration Development).
10 Nonetheless, the main discussion in the industry related to the efficiency, expediency, and volumes of RES generation support at the cost of participants of electric energy circulation relationships is currently still focusing on the CDA mechanism. The government authorities and specialized associations are actively discussing the issue of the need to lower the earlier declared volumes of further financing of RES generation within the CDA mechanism after 2024. [2] This being said, the level of practical implementation of the system of support of renewable energy sources on retail markets cannot be compared with the one in respect of the RES CDA mechanism.

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1. Electric Energy Market and Capacities // Market Council Association Non-Profit Partnership. URL: https:// www.np-sr.ru/ru/market/vie/index.htm ; VYGON Consulting: Renewable Energetics of Russia Starts to Compete with the Traditional One // Renewable Energy Development Association. URL: https://rreda.ru/  russian-analytics.
2. Smertina P. The Green Energetics Program Cannot Be Approximated. The Government Decided to Review The RES Support Scope / P. Smertina, T. Dyatel // Kommersant. 2021. January 20.
3. Projects // The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. URL: https://minenergo.gov.ru/node/11245. 
4. The First Solar and Diesel Electric Power Station Is Put into Operation in the Transbaikal Territory // Hevelsolar.com. 2017. January 26.
5. The Digital Transformation of 2030. Concept. Moscow, 2018. 31 p. URL: https://www.rosseti.ru/investment/  Kontseptsiya_Tsifrovaya_transformatsiya_2030.pdf.

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