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A session ‘Small hydropower from potential to opportunities: financing, growth points’ continued the conference programme of RENWEX 2022.

The session’s moderator, President of the National Agency for Energy Saving and Renewable Energy (NAERE) Nikolay Safronov, at the beginning of the meeting wondered why it was not profitable to engage in small-scale hydropower in our country. He said that yesterday RusHydro, at one of the RENWEX 2022 events dedicated to energy in the Far East and the Arctic, cheerfully reported on how many billions would be spent to finance diesel repairs in Yakutia, on contracts for solar panels and so on. But no one remembered about hydropower stations. Though everybody understands that it is senseless to put solar panels in polar night and it is problematic to install wind farms on permafrost. At the same time, in the same areas, under the same conditions, hydroelectric power plants can produce energy at the cost of a kilowatt - from 50 kopecks, to a ruble.

Yakov Blyashko, General Director of the INSET Interindustry Scientific and Technical Association, spoke about the general problems of development of small hydropower. In his opinion, there is no development strategy in the country. It is unclear whether we will ever have one, as RusHydro is not interested in the development of small hydroelectric power. Administrative and economic problems at the federal and regional levels are not solved because local authorities are not interested in development. Plus, there are scientific and technical problems and the lack of a regulatory framework for design and equipment creation.

Vasily Potemkin, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry Expertise at the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, tried to dilute his colleague's skepticism, noting that the situation has recently changed and there is a desire to reduce and modernise the redundancy of inefficient diesel or coal-fired generation.

Reports made by the industry experts continued the discussion.

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Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO