Russian government unveils plan to add 7 GW of renewables till 2035

Russian government is expected to pass a new decree that will see to build 7 GW of solar and wind by 2035. Once approved the forecast for 2035 can be raised to around 13 GW with near 6 GW awarded so far.

Since 2014 when the first utility-scale PV project was commissioned 1.7 GW of solar capacity has come online by the end of 2020. This year Russian government looks to auction the rest 0.5 GW of 2.2 GW PV program.

Recent sentiments of Russian authorities to continue development of renewables could allay concerns of national and foreign investors whose funds were already earmarked for their manufacturing facilities. All utility-scale projects constructed under PPAs meet local content rules.

The country is now taking strides toward a more diversified solar PV industry with encouraging new segments of distributed power. Since 2018 diesel generation is also being financially ousted in favor of clean technologies, mostly by solar-plus-storage projects in remote areas. In Siberian and Far East regions where a disposal of old and obsolete diesel power machines is inevitable solar or wind projects coupled with storage systems have reached a tipping point. This segment can add up to 2-3 GW of solar and wind.

Russia’s residential PV is set to thrive in next five years once a legislation has come into force. A so called “balancing method” designed to store surpluses in a proxy meter and then utilize them could unleash a growing need of rooftop PV systems. This can bring additional 5 GW of solar till 2030.