The World Bank calls Russia to electricity saving

Updated September 18, 2008

   The tariffs growth on the energy resources leads to the importance to invest in the technologies directed to the electricity savings, since the inaction is very expensive. Such are the conclusions of the report "The energy efficiency in Russia: the hidden reserve" presented on September, 17 by the World Bank and the International Financial Corporation (IFC).

   In the specialists’ opinion, the investments of the state and private organizations of about $320 billion are required to implement the energy saving technologies in the economy on the whole and in the households. The return of these investments, i.e. the saved facilities, will total nearly $80 billion for four years.

   "If you want to get the same energy volume by means of increasing, not saving, the production, you have to spend threefold", the head of IFC’s program for the investments stimulation in the energy saving Yana Gorbatenko considers. "The forecasted sum of the expenditures can be higher taking to account the current world prices".

   The core point of the report is quite clear. It goes not about the simple interpretation of the soviet "turn the light off, when you leave", it goes about the technological approach of using the electrical energy on the whole. If electrical bulb is replaced with the energy-saving spiral one, this will be displayed on the meter of any apartment. A consumer will use less electricity, and will pay less as well. Moreover, if large enterprises use such method of the energy saving (due to the certain, but not very expensive, technologies), they will save the enormous sum of money. For instance, if such technologies are used in Russia, the country can save 240 bcm of natural gas, 340 TWh of electrical energy, 89 million tons of coal and 43 million tons of crude oil and its equivalent as the refined products. The numbers are huge, if the forecasted drop of the natural gas extraction (35-100 bcm to 2010) and the expected fall of the electrogenerated capacities (nearly 20 000 MWh) are taken to account.

   What does impede Russia’s energy to achieve such promising prospects? "Firstly, it is the absence of the coordinated policy", Yana Gorbatenko marked. In her opinion, it is a major problem, and if the government solves it, it will prove that it follows the direction of the energy saving. Secondly, Russia’s population and business are not aware of the real benefits of the energy saving. The Russian companies prefer to construct new generating capacities instead of investing their facilities in the saving technologies. The majority of them don’t want to risk investing in the long-term projects. Moreover, the country takes little interest in energy saving because of the current monopoly on the energy supply.

   In the opinion of the director of the Center for Energy Efficiency Igor Bashmakov, it is possible to improve the situation quickly. For instance, the tariff making reform and liberalization of the electric energy and gas markets - these are high-cost, but effective measures of solving the issues of the quickest launch of the new energy-saving technologies. Moreover, the state has to provide such programs with the financial support, such as the banks and leasing companies’ funding, to grant the capital repairs of accommodations that meet the requirements of the energy saving, and to coordinate the plans on the energy supply.

   The World Bank’s director and the permanent representative in Russia Klaus Roland underlined that in order to achieve all this, "the clear understanding of the potential, as well as the Russian policy’ desire to put the required changes in life" is required.

   The World Bank and the International Financial Corporation’s report is already directed to all Russia’s relevant ministries and agencies.