October 2015
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Power engineering: Bashkiria’s Special-purpose four years to get energy pillars electric vehicle off the ground 16 22 32 Magazine about Russia’s Power Industry ENERGY WITHOUT BORDERS № 3 (34) September – October 2015 E-commerce: “E” for Electricity Taking profitability to a new level, making friends with customers and increasing employee loyalty – this is what power supply companies plan to achieve by offering additional paid services. Although still in their infancy, these services have already had an impact on company reports IN RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH peretok.ru ENERGY IN RUSSIA AND BEYOND peretok.ru WE ARE ON THE WEB! Dear readers, lthough the electric power industry has not escaped the effects of today’s tense and unpredictable economic situation, many players have still managed to find sources for stable, long-term growth. Despite market shocks and investors’ cautiousness, companies continue to put large facilities in operation, embarking on new ambitious projects. For instance, speaking at Eastern Economic Forum held in early September of 2015 in Vladivostok, Inter RAO’s Chairman of the Management Board Boris KOVALCHUK said the company had resumed its work on a project to build a power connection between Russia and Japan. With an investment of six to seven billion US dollars, the project is expected to be completed in 2026 and includes the construction of 2,100 MW of coal generation and 800 MW of gas-fired generation; a total of 20 billion kWh of electricity will be supplied from Sakhalin to Hokkaido annually. It’s quite possible that the construction will require effort from the entire energy industry, with Gazprom, Rosneft, ROSSETI and RusHydro being brought in at different stages of the project. Power supply companies are looking for new growth opportunities. Some of the most successful Aof them have proved that both quality and revenues can be simultaneously improved even during a crisis. This can be achieved, for example, by expanding the range of services and paying more attention to customers’ needs. New services are the focus of the cover story of this issue of Energy Without Borders. We decided for the first time ever to touch on the topic of procurement in large companies. In his interview with Energy Without Borders, Chief Executive of Inter RAO – Procurement Management Center Dmitry FILATOV speaks about the benefits of centralized procurement and the types of equipment that are already produced in Russia as a substitute for imports. As always, you will find interesting industry news from Russia and abroad, our Expert Club section, a forecast provided by financial analysts and a calendar of major industry events for October and November. I wish you a rewarding reading experience and look forward to your feedback. Please write to our editorial e-mail address: [email protected] Sincerely yours, Editor-in-Chief Anton NAZAROV CONTENTS September 1 and is aimed primarily at supporting the newly built gas turbine production facilities in Russia. It is also expected to encourage local manu- facturers of power generation equipment to expand 4 NEWS production.. ENERGY SECTOR INTERVIEW 8 WORLDWIDE 18 “Now we can manage import substitution and pricing COVER STORY effectively” 10 Inter RAO Group was one of the first holding compa- E-commerce: nies in Russia to centralize its procurement function «E» for Electricity Taking profitability to a new level, making friends with customers and increasing employee loyalty – this is what power supply companies plan to achieve by offering additional paid services. Although still in their infancy, these services have already had an impact on company reports. THINK TANK CLUB 14 The Volume Does Matter A natural gas exchange was launched in Russia in Oc- tober last year. The government took this step aiming to liberalize gas prices and reduce the costs incurred by Russian power plants. Experts who responded to Energy Without Borders’ requests believe that on-ex- change trading will produce the expected results, but it will require time, a regulatory framework and higher volume of gas offered on the exchange. ENGINEERING 16 Four Years to Get off the Ground The Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) has decided to cancel the customs duty on im- porting component parts for gas turbines of over 50 MW for four years. The measure became effective on in a move that had a significant economic impact both for the Group and the industry as a whole (due to the Group’s substantial market share in a variety of sectors). In his interview with Energy Without Borders, Chief Executive of Inter RAO – Procurement Management Center Dmitry FILATOV discusses the benefits of centralization and tells our readers what the company does to execute the Russian president’s orders concerning lower procurement costs and import substitution, as well as speaks about ways to deal with sole suppliers and dumping. REGION 22 Oil, honey and Electricity Bashkiria is one of Russia’s leading industrial re- gions. It has a well-developed energy system that serves as the cornerstone for the republic’s growth and satisfies the region’s demand for electricity and heat. 2 Founder and publisher: JSC Inter RAO Issue № 3 (34) September - october 2015 The magazine is registered with the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor). State registration certificate PI No. FS77–54414 dated June 10, 2013. Editorial address: 27 Bolshaya Pirogovskaya Street, Building 2, Moscow 119435, Russian Federation tel. +7 (495) 664-88-40, fax +7 (495) 664-88-41, IFOGRAPHICS NB [email protected]. 24 Armenian Energy 32 Special-Purpose System Electric Vehicle Editor-in-Chief: Anton A. NAZAROV Yandex.Taxi, one of Russia’s Executive Secretary: Alexander KLENIN FOREIGN AFFAIRS most popular taxi booking apps, 26 Three Pillars and the said in early July that it had Editorial Board of JSC Inter RAO: Grids purchased two Tesla electric Alexander BORIS, Member of the Management A country of only three million cars, Tesla Model S and Model S Board – Chair of the Editorial Board; inhabitants, the mountainous Performance, to find out wheth- Anton NAZAROV, Director of Public Relations, Armenia has more barriers er Moscow taxi companies were Head of the Information Policy Department – than opportunities to offer to ready to switch to the advanced Deputy Chair of the Editorial Board; its electric power industry. A green technology. If the test is Pavel OKLEY, Member of the Management rugged landscape, historical successful, taxi services offering Board – Head of the Operations Unit; connection to the Soviet energy electric cars might be given spe- Sergey PUCHKA, Head of the Human Resources and Organizational Development Unit; system, low-income consumers cial privileges in the future. Yury SHAROV, Member of the Management and tariff control – all these fac- Board – Head of the Engineering Unit. tors make it difficult to attract EVENT CALENDAR new business. However, foreign 34 Major energy investors and banks are active- industry ly involved in developing the conferences, forums Armenian energy industry, with and exhibitions in projects launched in almost all October–November 10 Nizhnyaya Syromyatnicheskaya Street, industry segments. 2015. Building 9, Moscow 105120, tel. +7 (495) 640-08-38, GLOBAL PRACTICES PHOTO EDITOR’S CHOICE +7 (495) 640-08-39, www.medialine-pressa.ru, 28 Top-level Regulation 36 Magic of Light е-mail: [email protected]. In Western countries (and in- For eighteen days each year, General Manager: Larisa RUDAKOVA creasingly in developing nations Sydney transforms into a huge Project Manager: Tatyana POSTNIKOVA as well), advanced power engi- canvas for artists to paint on. Executive Editor: Irina DEMINA Chief Designer: Inna TITOVA neering projects have always Yet to create a picture, they need Designers: Mariya TYRYLGINA, Iliya FANDEEV been part of large-scale govern- no brushes or paints, but rather Color Corrector: Andrey KLOCHKOV ment programs. Russia is not in colorful light and music. Proofreaders: Larisa NIKOLINA, Alina BABICH, a hurry to follow this path. Svetlana PYDYK Photo: Dmitrii CHISTOPRUDOV, Press Service of 30 FINANCE Inter RAO Group companies, SHUTTERSTOCK, Cheap and Little RIA Novosti, Lori photo bank Slow season combined with the For advertising inquiries, please call: economic downturn has led to +7 (495) 640-08-38/39 ext. 150; a decline in electricity prices. Mobile: +7 (962) 924-38-21 In this environment, delivering Advertising Sales Manager Alla PEREVEZENTSEVA stable financial performance is a [email protected], challenging task for most play- [email protected] ers. Nevertheless, some energy Proofs approved 16.10.2015 companies play their trump Printed at TvoLimedia print shop. card to attract both resellers and investors. ENERGY WITHOUT BORDERS | № 3 (34) SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2015 3 NEWS Up to А million US dollars was earned by Russia from electric power exports percent increase was achieved in the first six months of 2015, the in power generation in Russia 395,8 Federal Customs Service said. 0,8 over seven months. Incentives for renewables Dmitry MEDVEDEV, Russia’s Prime Minister, Also, the decree sets the upper limits for has signed a decree on stimulating capital and operating expenditure incurred renewable generation. “The decree extends by qualified renewable generation facilities the program which supports wind power working in the retail electricity market. generation in the wholesale electricity The document aims at maintaining due and capacity market,” an explanatory competition in the wind power market and memorandum to the decree says. investing in the manufacturing of equipment. Two-stage Outtake The 2015 Competitive Capacity outtake (CCO) will consist of two stages, said Russian Minister of Energy Alexander NOVAK. “The base case scenario is now to hold the selection process in two stages: in September for 2016 and in December for 2017. We want to switch to a long- term CCS,” the minister said.