KEY CONCLUSIONS
Renewable energy sources won’t completely replace traditional ones; the energy of the future is to combine them
“We need to imagine the world of the future: it will not only be renewable energy, but a combination of renewable energy with other types of energy,” Schneider Electric Chairman and CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire said.
“We need to understand that renewable energy sources cannot completely replace traditional ones, especially where a lot of energy consumption is required, such as for car manufacturing, steel production, and so on,” Fortum President and CEO Markus Rauramo said.
“Of course, nuclear power plants are a priority because we need to use the scientific and technological potential that has been accumulated in nuclear energy. I think that hydropower should be of priority importance considering the resources that we have in the country today,” Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Nikolay Shulginov said.
“The power grid industry will continue to develop. The main driver is the incorporation into the network of large renewable energy facilities, which are often located far from their own centres of consumption. But the bigger the power system, the easier it is for you to compensate for the non-guaranteed operating mode of renewable energy facilities. The bigger the power interconnection, the easier it is to smooth out the imbalance that arises,” System Operator of the Unified Energy System Chairman of the Board Fedor Opadchiy said.
Russia needs mass grid construction for renewable energy sources, which will affect the entire energy industry
“Mass grid construction is needed to integrate large volumes of renewable energy sources into the energy system. Estimates show that the volume of construction should be twice as much by 2040 as that built over the past 130 years in the networks,” Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Nikolay Shulginov said.
“When deploying new technologies, it’s crucial for the state, companies, and consumers to maintain a certain balance in this regard and to see how this affects related industries when applying the latest technologies,” Rosseti CEO and Chairman of the Management Board Andrey Ryumin said.
PROBLEMS
The continuity and reliability of grids must be supported as the volume of renewable energy sources increases
“There is no adequacy. We need to think about microgeneration, about a large power system, and about the stability of the country’s power system […] When the volume of renewable energy sources is small, no one notices [possible losses], but large volumes will create problems,” Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Nikolay Shulginov said.
“What are we going to do when generation becomes more complex? What is our biggest challenge? Put everything together and combine everything,” Schneider Electric Chairman and CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire said.
SOLUTIONS
Digitization is needed to manage networks and solve the problem of network security and reliability
“We need generation that is interconnected. We can combine renewable energy sources with other types of energy generation. At the same time, we have a grid that is responsible and supplies energy to consumers. In the future, everything will be interconnected – from the grid to the consumer. We need to develop software and provide analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence so that we can manage the entire network as a whole in a completely different manner,” Schneider Electric Chairman and CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire said.
“The system is becoming more complex. We not only have to manage the grid, but generation as well. Since it’s more complex, it’s impossible to manage the power system in the old-fashioned way. So, we need to use digital technologies to improve the reliability of management,” Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Nikolay Shulginov said.
“Without introducing the latest technologies and changing our business processes, and without digitalization, which we talk so much about, our life is probably impossible at this point in time [...] We are currently using VR technologies that help in training our personnel and will introduce quite a few VR simulators to work in certain areas on our equipment. Unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite imagery also help us monitor power lines and control the construction of linear facilities. There are a multitude of technologies that can transform our industry. I should probably also mention energy storage systems,” Rosseti CEO and Chairman of the Management Board Andrey Ryumin said.
