Russia (bbabo.net) - The district heating system is used by two thirds of the country's population. But to what extent does this system, created back in the Soviet period, correspond to modern conditions and prospects for the development of the industry?
The answers to this question were given by the participants of the round table "The Future of the Infrastructure of District Heating in Russia", which took place within the framework of the Russian Energy Week.
The state, according to the Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Petr Bobylev, proceeds from the fact that heat supply is a business, but a socially oriented business that determines the quality of life of Russians, and this "will never go anywhere." The social burden of heat supply concerns the reliability of its system, the quality of the supplied products, as well as the volume of expenses of citizens for its payment. In other words, the tariffs should not be too high for the population.
In addition, the domestic heat supply in recent years has gone beyond the production objectives and has been included in the global environmental agenda. Russia has undertaken international obligations to reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere, and a significant part of their volume falls on coal-fired thermal power plants. The new Responsible Investment Agenda (ESG) and climate legislation, as the organizers of the discussion noted, are pushing for the creation of reliable and environmentally friendly communal infrastructure, as well as for the modernization of the housing stock. All this complex of tasks, the Deputy Minister of Energy is sure, can be solved only with the centralization of heat supply.
"There is definitely a centralized heat supply. Decentralization of heat supply systems is definitely not our way," summed up Petr Bobylev. At the same time, he admitted the possibility of using mini-CHP and boiler houses in small towns. First of all, where "centralization does not pay off."
The development of communal infrastructure should fit into the climate agenda The vice-president of Fortum, Parviz Abdushukurov, also pointed out the expediency of maintaining different approaches. According to him, it would be wrong to dictate the requirements for the centralization of heat supply throughout Russia. It is necessary to take into account the geographical and climatic conditions of individual settlements, the size and density of the population, especially in the eastern part of the country.
The general director of the Siberian Generating Company (SGK) German Mustafin, in turn, drew attention to the contribution that the modernized CHP plants, equipped with modern cleaning equipment, make in reducing harmful emissions. These stations make it possible to replace small "dirty" boiler houses. According to the calculations of the general director, in the region of its activity SGK has replaced 1,800 gigacalories of installed capacity for the entire period of operation.
Nevertheless, about 250 small boiler houses remain in Novosibirsk, and in Krasnoyarsk, in addition to such facilities, there are also 17 thousand houses with stove heating. Yuri Melnikov, a senior analyst at the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management, stated that centralization should certainly be given priority. But, unfortunately, this does not happen everywhere, and small boiler houses are still being built.
50 percent is occupied by heat supply in household payments for housing and communal services Local authorities and large companies operating in the heat energy market associate the development of heat supply systems left over from the Soviet era with the further involvement of private business in the industry. The main tools here were the creation of price zones (the so-called alternative boiler house method) and the conclusion of concession agreements. Such legal forms provide large-scale investment by private businesses in the modernization of generating facilities and networks. Prior to the emergence of these mechanisms, the degree of mistrust between private companies and municipal authorities was so great that it made it virtually impossible to make significant investments in the industry, according to one roundtable participant. Now the situation has changed.
"The owners of the companies are ready to receive loans, raise their own funds, and we are talking about an amount of 20-25 billion rubles per city. Give three to five years when the first results of this work will be presented. I think that this will stimulate municipalities and subjects of the Federation more actively go into this area, "- said Petr Bobylev.
The observations of the representative of the Ministry of Energy of Russia were confirmed by the heads of large participants in the heating and power market. According to the chairman of the board, general director of "T Plus" Andrey Vagner, the company operates in 15 cities on the terms of the price zone. Another 17 municipalities have concession agreements. All these projects involve investments in the amount of almost 200 billion rubles. In the future, the company intends to use the mechanism of the price zone in 30-32 cities.Top managers of thermal power companies believe that for the active modernization of the industry, more large-scale participation from the state is necessary. For example, an idea was voiced about such state co-financing for district heating in small towns, which would allow bringing the project payback period for a private investor to seven to ten years.
In addition, business representatives proposed to create a strategy for the development of thermal energy, prescribing specific dates and digital indicators in it. "We will not offer revolutionary approaches. But we will not offer evolutionary approaches," replied Petr Bobylev, adding that the energy strategy of the Russian Federation will be updated in the near future.
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