Distributed generation with hope for the future

The VI Scientific and Practical Conference “Distributed Generation” - “Distributed Generation as the Basis of Modernization of Power Engineering” was held on April 11 in St. Petersburg at the Presidential Library. More than 300 representatives of the energy industry, miners and oil producers, manufacturers of power and electrical equipment, associations of industrial enterprises and scientific institutes, federal and regional authorities attended the event. For the first time, the topic of distributed generation was discussed by such authoritative and at the same time wide range of participants.

“This conference is a platform for interaction between business and science”, - said Mikhail Romanov, deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Controls and Regulations. - Decisions made during the sections of this forum will be summarized in the final resolution of the conference, and it, in turn, will serve as the basis for legislative activities. Yesterday, President of Russia Vladimir Putin instructed to work more actively in this direction”.

The main theme of the authoritative meeting was the consolidation of efforts for the development of the distributed generation industry. “Today, distributed generation occupies about 10% of the total energy system of Russia”, - said Andrei Rudskoy, Director General of NG-Energo, which is the general partner of the conference. “This is no longer “small”, not microgeneration, not cogeneration, and so on, but a completely independent and serious industry, with serious development potential. At the same time, distributed generation is not an alternative to a centralized energy delivery, but an addition that helps the development of the power system, allows reserving power, downing peak loads, and ensure power supply to entire regions remote from centralized power grids. Therefore, it needs the support of the state. Of course, local energy will be developed in any case, since its use is profitable and efficient. But support will make it possible to grow faster, achieve greater and better results”.

“The issue of development and implementation of distributed generation technologies is more relevant than ever for our country”, - said Valery Radchenko, President of the Association of Industrial Enterprises of St. Petersburg. - It should be considered as a priority for the development of energy. Today, we are lagging behind global trends - in Europe, this area of ​​energy is much more developed, which has a very positive effect on the development of economic growth”. “So far, distributed generation is developing in Russia not because of support, but against all ods”, - Alexey Khokhlov, head of the Electric Power Engineering Department of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, supported his opinion.

However, the situation may change for the better in the near future. Energy experts pin great hopes on the scientific and practical conference held in the Presidential Library. “We would like to see the legislative initiatives that allow us to more clearly introduce distributed generation into the legal field, to create laws regulating its development”, - says Andrei Rudskoy, - as well as the creation of a public organization, an association of enterprises working in this area. Everyone understands that our community is ready for this”.

The proposals expressed by the participants of the conference at various sections were included in the resolution signed on its results.

A protocol on the intentions of creating the Distributed Generation Association, which unites enterprises and scientific institutes working in this direction was signed at the end of the conference. The main objectives of the association will be the development of industry standards in the field of distributed generation, the protection of the interests of enterprises operating in this field and the examination of projects in the field of distributed generation.