Mikhail Grishankov, first vice chairman of State Duma Safety Committee

– Russia will not be able to develop without developed energy sector

It is necessary to enhance the energy efficiency of the Russian economy by 40% by 2020, Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin said during a conference on the development of Russia’s electric energy sector on Wednesday.

By 2020 the demand for electric energy in Russia may grow by 70%.

This is the forecast of experts. In reality, if the economy continues developing the way it is developing at present, the growth will be even bigger, Putin said. He noted that, in order to meet this demand, it was necessary to actively develop the electric energy complex.

Russia will not be able to develop unless it develops its energy sector. Any new plants need additional energy. Nuclear energy will have a colossal role here. In fact, it has no alternative. Gas is an exhaustible source of energy, atom is not. So, it is obvious that our nuclear power industry will develop. Our task for the moment is to restore of our machine building industry so it timely meet the growing demand for nuclear power equipment.

It is absolutely obvious that the share of nuclear power plants in Russia’s total energy production will exceed planned 25% by 2020. For example, in France the share of nuclear power plants is as big as 80%. The more nuclear power plants we will build the more opportunities will have for active presence on the oil and gas market. The share of NPPs must be increased and the bigger it is the better. Nuclear energy is much cheaper than the energy produced from gas. Today, gas in Europe costs $410 per 1,000 c m and this figure will be steadily growing.

As regards the program to enhance our energy efficiency, it will certainly help us to save energy in certain sectors of our economy but this cannot be an effective solution to the problem of growing energy consumption. Only additional capacities can give us guarantee of stable growth.