– Rosenergoatom’s energy efficiency program must be supported

The nuclear power industry must be given a key role in the program for overcoming energy shortfall, says Martin Shakkum, Chairman of State Duma Committee on Industry, Construction and High Technologies. Besides building new nuclear reactors, Rosatom is planning to raise the efficiency of the existing NPPs based on the foreign experience.

Martin Shakkum has answered a number of questions:

Mr. Shakkum, how urgent is the problem of impending energy shortfall for Russia?

Quickly growing economy and active housing construction need increasingly more electricity and natural gas. Already today many densely populated industrial regions, such as Moscow and Moscow region, North-East and Ural, are facing a growing shortage of development resources.   

For example, Loviisa NPP (Finland) exploits Russian equipment (2 VVER-440 reactors) and does it very effectively: for 20 years already they have been showing the world highest plant ratio and safety and ecological standards.

What reserves can we use based on the Finnish experience?

Every year nuclear reactors are suspended for planned repairs. They last from 15 days (at the best NPPs) to as many as 60 days. So, the reduction of the repair period due to more effective preparations is the first reserve for raising NPP efficiency.  The reduction of the repair period by 30 days all over the country would be equivalent to the launch of two GW reactors.

The other reserve is raising the capacity factor of the whole energy production chain: from reactor to steam turbine and electric generator. True, electric generators at some NPPs work at 98% of their capacity, but, on the whole, the average NPP ratio in the country is just 30%. 2%-3% raise in the plant ratio would mean 5%-7% raise in capacity, which would be equivalent to the launch of 1 GW reactor. Of course, this is a difficult and expensive process. It would require modernization or replacement of steam generators and turbines. That’s why Rosatom’s program for raising energy efficiency is quite realistic and must be supported. But just like a chain cannot be stronger than its weaker link, energy efficiency is not just an efficient power generator.
 
What are the authorities doing and what should they do to prevent energy shortfall?

During the Mar 16 meeting of the G8 energy ministers President Putin said that energy efficiency enhancement is a priority task. The State Duma and the Government of the Russian Federation have no right to ignore this problem. The state must not allow inefficient facilities to waste its resources. Today, there are big losses in the network economy: in some Russian networks the loss makes up 12%-24%, while in Europe and America it is no more than 7.5%. There are even bigger losses in the municipal housing economy. In 2004 the sphere lost 113mln Gcal. This would be enough for heating the whole housing fund of Russia (2.8bln sq m) for 42 days.

However, energy saving is impossible without precise recording of the resources, irrespective of their type: even ordinary wastewater requires electricity as it is pumped out by electric pumps. The foreign experience shows that tariff policy is not enough for regulating the amount of the bills the population pays to municipal monopolies. To a certain extent, it is for the consumers themselves to regulate the volume of consumption and, consequently, the amount of their payments. Most of the Russians cannot do that as their houses have no relevant equipment (except for electric meters). They just pay as much as the monopolies tell them to. So, it is very important to provide the consumers with measuring equipment so they can pay as much as they consume. Here, we need incentive measures similar to those taken in Eastern Europe and Baltic states.

We should understand that, if we fail to raise the energy efficiency of the existing housing fund, we may face the lack of primary energy resources for new construction. I would like to remind you that construction and municipal housing economy consume almost half of the country’s energy resources. Hence, energy efficiency must be given top priority in these spheres. 

How can the problem of energy saving be solved?

Unfortunately, I should admit that the law «On Energy Savings» — the law that is supposed to save the economy from waste, mismanagement and outdated technologies — is very imperfect and ineffective. The law does not contain any specific mechanisms of stimulating energy efficiency and financing energy saving program and does not specify administrative and economic measures against ineffective use of energy resources. The law is mostly declarative, probably, because it was adopted in 1996 when one barrel of oil cost just $10 and the energy saving problem was not as urgent as today.

Besides, the law «On Energy Saving» contradicts the Law «On Technical Regulation.» The point is that energy saving is not mentioned as a rule in technical regulations, which means that energy saving is just an optional norm for entities operating in construction and municipal housing economy. The best way to solve this conflict is to include energy saving (or energy efficiency) in technical regulations and to make them an obligatory rule.