More than a hundred experts discussed the new law on heat supply in Yekaterinburg. Pilot projects have been launched to transition to a new heat supply model with the participation of SGK and Quadra
EKATERINBURG, October 16. /TASS/. The first two pilot projects of a new model of urban heat supply began to operate in Russia. This was announced in Yekaterinburg at the conference “The Role of the New Law on Heat Supply in the Modernization of the Region’s Infrastructure” by Alexey Khrapkov, Deputy Director of the Department of Operational Control and Management in the Electric Power Industry of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.
“Two agreements on the transition to a new model have already been signed. Siberian Generating Company signed such an agreement with the city of Rubtsovsk Altai Territory, and an agreement between the city of Voronezh and PJSC "Quadra - Power Generation" was signed recently as part of International Forum"Russian Energy Week". These are the first steps, and the pace of implementation of the new law in Russia will depend on the success of these “pilots,” noted a representative of the Ministry of Energy.
According to a ministry representative, up to 10 cities and pilot companies will be involved in the process in the first six months to a year. If they are successful, Khrapkov is sure, it will be possible to predict exponential growth, the introduction of the new model in Russia will have a massive avalanche-like character.
According to Khrapkov, new law on heat supply in the modernization of regional infrastructure was adopted on July 29, and has not yet acquired by-laws. “Now there is nothing better for the mass implementation of this law than pilot projects,” he noted, adding that pressure and campaigning are unacceptable during the transition. “The transition to a new model is carried out voluntarily in agreement with regional and local authorities; the balance of the transition is laid down in the law itself,” added the representative of the ministry.
According to the expert, the main thing now is the fastest possible adoption of by-laws, assessment of the experience of pilot projects, mobility in amending the law and by-laws.
Legislators' experience
According to a member of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, regional policy, local self-government and affairs of the North by Arkady Chernetsky, the law reached the senators already adopted in the first reading. “In general, it is correct, but some points embarrassed us extremely, and we were forced to actively intervene. First of all, no one could clearly identify the additional financial burden on the region. According to our preliminary calculations, they amounted to billions of dollars. The Federation Council created a commission, and all 24 proposals we formulated were almost completely taken into account,” Chernetsky noted.
According to a member of the Federation Council, the lack of a complete set of by-laws is confusing. "I'm afraid of imbalances within the system between generation and network operators. Today, for the vast majority municipalities The problem is not the generation problem. When talking about generation, we can discuss whether it is effective or not. Speaking about network farming, in some cases we pose the question of survival - to live or not to live. Generation will have a dominant position in this system, and wisdom is needed on the part of a single heat supply organization, and control by authorities. The entire paradigm of upcoming actions must be open and understandable, so that, while pulling out one thing, you do not ruin the other. Only practice can dispel these doubts,” notes Chernetsky.
“If life demands, we are ready to make appropriate adjustments to the law. It should improve the situation, and in no case create new problems,” states the member of the Federation Council.
Sverdlovsk experience
While working on the amendments, legislators addressed and studied the reactions of a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which helped identify the most pain points in the draft law. One of these regions was the Sverdlovsk region.
Debts of management companies to the Sverdlovsk branch of T Plus for heat and hot water exceeded 5.2 billion rubles. More than half of the amount of debt of management companies for heat and hot water to the resource supplier is the debt of homeowners in apartment buildings in Yekaterinburg, Pervouralsk, Nizhnyaya Tura, Lesnoy.
According to the Minister of Energy and Housing and Communal Services Sverdlovsk region Nikolai Smirnov, wear utilities region is about 67%. One of the slides of his presentation identifies two municipalities where over 92% of their heating systems need to be replaced. The shortfall in repairs that developed in the 1990s and early 2000s is not compensated for by current active repairs. "On average, about 43% of the heating networks of the Middle Urals need to be replaced - this is about 3 thousand km. In the region, up to 6% of heating networks are replaced annually with a standard of up to 10%. The annual need of the Sverdlovsk region for construction and reconstruction is 250 heat sources, while this varies and no more than 50 are being reconstructed,” he says. At the same time, the minister notes, the unprecedented amounts allocated in Yekaterinburg in 2017 (for example, T Plus PJSC allocated about 2.5 billion rubles) showed that large-scale repair work can paralyze the work of the transport complex.
“In addition, we must understand that the concessionaire will come only if he sees clear working conditions with a clear payback period. Although concessions are concluded for periods of 30 years or more, the concessionaire will actually come for a period of no more than 10, maximum 12 years, so that continue to operate the modernized facilities,” the minister notes.
Pilots' experience
The Sverdlovsk region has selected ten municipalities to implement pilot projects for the comprehensive modernization of heat supply systems. Distinctive feature these territories was what experts saw there main reason formation of debt for resources due to the inefficiency of the heat supply system. In a number of territories they decided to move away from district heating, closed large Soviet-era boiler houses, installed local sources as close as possible to the objects social sphere and multi-apartment residential buildings, disconnecting from centralized heating supply private sector and transferring it to individual gas supply.
“We managed to improve the quality of resources, eliminate the current debt for utilities. And in most cases, this led not to an increase, but to a decrease in residents’ fees. Thus, in Verkhnye Sergi, fees, primarily in the private sector when transferring from centralized to individual gas heating decreased to winter period more than one and a half times," the minister noted.
"PJSC "Quadra - Power Generation" is one of the largest Russian territorial generating companies created in the process of reforming OJSC RAO "UES of Russia". The general director of the company Semyon Sazonov and the head of the city of Voronezh Alexander Gusev signed a protocol of intent for cooperation on the development of heat supply systems for this million-plus city Russian Black Earth Region. The agreement is just over a week old, and it is too early to talk about results, according to the deputy. general director"PJSC "Quadra - Power Generation" for the economy of Svetlana Nikonova, is now, together with the city authorities, with representatives of organizations providing heat supply to the city, working out the conditions, parameters and joint interactions to build, first of all, technological relationships within the heat supply system. "The parties also mean the consolidation of the network complex, and efficiency parameters, capabilities and potential within the system - in order to carry out a number of preparatory activities and quite consciously talk about joint actions to transition to a new model,” Nikonova said.
Experts understand that implementing such projects only at the expense of the budget is impossible and impractical. Concession agreements are possible only within the framework of existing, clear and long-term federal laws. “The problem is that this bill, supported by the federal Ministry of Energy, met, for example, a mixed reaction from the federal Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services. There are fears that the by-laws that will be prepared by different departments may lead to inconsistency in different areas. They should be discussed actively and openly, taking into account the experience of the pilot territories. Only then will the law work usefully and effectively both for owners and operators of heat sources, and for consumers,” experts state.
Consumer motivation
All new houses are built with modern systems heat supply. This decision was made administratively, and the installation of such systems in old houses, in accordance with the housing code, without a general decision of home owners is impossible. There is only one resource for influencing owners - persuasion. “Heat supply reform without a reform of the consciousness of all participants in the process is impossible, and owners need to be explained not only their rights, but also their responsibilities for maintaining their homes, including energy-efficient measures,” Smirnov believes.
According to Svetlana Nikonova, the problem of consumer motivation is the next big stage collaboration. “The manufacturer and supplier are motivated, but without verified motivation of the consumer - the other side of this relationship - it will be difficult for us to achieve a constructive result,” notes a representative of PJSC “Quadra - Power Generation”.
Ekaterinburg - the face of Russia
Ekaterinburg has been nominated by Russia as the city that will host the World Exhibition EXPO 2025. For six months, if the application is successful, he will become the face of Russia, which will be seen by many millions of visitors. The city must show the world its best, modern and efficient.
The T Plus Group estimates the need to modernize the heat supply system of Yekaterinburg at approximately 60 billion rubles by 2030, Alexander Vilesov, Director for Economics and Heating Units of T Plus PJSC, said during the conference. The largest share of investments, 45% of the entire investment program, should be directed to a project to transfer thermal energy consumers to individual heating points (IHP). There are also two more items among the areas: modernization of generation facilities and heat supply networks, they account for 25% each. It is noted that among the sources of attracting financing, 5% comes from the budget, 70% from project financing and 25% from the heat energy tariff.
“Ekaterinburg is an important, supporting, significant city for PJSC T Plus. Moreover, there is the Academichesky district here, which I consider the pearl of Russia, where it is possible to build a huge popularization of how to do things,” he said. Vilesov also noted the effective and worthy of popularization experience of Tatarstan in “closing” the heat supply to vast, populated and industrially saturated territories.
Tatarstan experience
JSC Tatenergo is one of the largest regional generating companies in the Russian Federation. According to General Director Rauzil Khaziev, the wear and tear of heating networks in the republic is also high, and the investment attractiveness of this industry is also not obvious. The problem began to be addressed here about nine years ago. The city of Naberezhnye Chelny had an open heat supply scheme, which covered about 1,400 houses. “We transferred them to a closed scheme, at the same time we moved away from central heating points (CHS) to automated individual heating points (AITP). This resulted in a reduction in the population’s heating costs by 27-30%. There are still about 200 houses left, which we will soon we will complete it,” notes the head of the energy company.
After Naberezhnye Chelny, the region moved to Kazan. “For two years, 200-250 AITPs were installed annually, and this year, in accordance with presidential program, installed 1,300 AITPs,” says Khaziev, adding that the source of funding is regional fund overhaul, where the main participant is the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, which finances about 60% of expenses through the fund.
“This is the “candy” that the population needs,” continues the general director. “In general, the most difficult thing was to hold meetings and convince people. What was our argument? The tariff is growing and will continue to grow. It is led by gas, to which up to 70% of heating sources are connected. Gas is becoming more expensive , the tariff is growing, but payments when the heat supply scheme is “closed” do not increase, or even decrease. What’s in the Ekaterinburg Akademichesky district, what’s in Naberezhnye Chelny, this is what we need to tell consumers about and how to convince them,” states Rauzil. Khaziev.
Delayed calls
The challenges the industry will face in the future were also discussed during the conference. According to Alexander Vilesov, director of economics at T Plus PJSC, the main current problem is not the problem of generation, but of networks. “There is no reason to invest in a hot water supply network if the creation of a new individual heating point will exclude it from circulation,” he notes.
Another challenge for heat generation is related to traditional energy. “The possible lifespan and investment period in traditional energy is about 15 more years. It’s difficult to predict further, but, in my opinion, we need to prepare for the fact that the structure of the electric market will radically change. Now wholesale generation predominates, retail generation is small. Subsequently we will see , most likely, the following. What is still being written about in newspapers about smart grids (smart grids - TASS note) and distributed generation will become everyday practice. There will be a different kind of energy - distributed," he said. TASS interview.
In the next five years, what is happening in the field of heat supply will be determined and rigidly determined by the very different coefficient of thermal efficiency of housing, even on the scale of one city - we're talking about not about percentages, but times. This will need to be balanced by active modernization of the entire housing and communal services complex, so as not to remain lagging behind developed countries. “In Scandinavia, the thermal efficiency of buildings is the highest, and within the framework of the European program, a number of houses with so-called zero emissions have already been announced - the house warms itself due to the heat emitted by the residents,” notes Vilesov.
At the same time, the intensive implementation of energy saving may become another challenge. “Due to the installation of individual metering devices and individual boiler houses, heat consumption in cities, primarily those that are actively being built, will decrease or remain constant. Building a business in a market that is not growing is a problem,” he says, noting that there is no answer to this yet question, problem awaiting solution.
"Open" or "closed"?
According to the initiators of the law, the need to transition to a new model of heat supply according to the so-called “closed” scheme is caused by growing heat losses in the current, so-called “open” schemes implemented in all cities of Russia. On average, losses from all heat supplied by thermal power plants and state district power plants in the Russian Federation increased from 9% in 2000 to 15% in 2015. Greatest losses are observed in the Sverdlovsk region - about 22%, the smallest in Tatarstan - about 5%. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, losses are estimated at 7 and 10%, respectively, the European average is from 4 to 8%. Experts note the heat supply of the new Akademichesky district in Yekaterinburg as an “outstanding result” - here losses do not exceed 3%.
Federal legislation provides for the transition of all Russian cities for a closed heat supply scheme by January 1, 2022. As Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Kravchenko said earlier, due to the effect of released resources, reducing heat and water losses, reducing gas, coal and fuel oil consumption, a serious multiplier effect is expected. “For one ruble of investment, three rubles will be added to GDP,” noted the deputy minister.
About the conference
The conference “The role of the new law on heat supply in the modernization of the region’s infrastructure” was held in Yekaterinburg on October 13 and became the first forum in Russia where the implementation of the new law was discussed. Dedicated to the prospects for the development of the city’s infrastructure, today’s problems in this area, as well as incentives for authorities and citizens to change the situation. main topic conferences - road map transition to a new model of the heat market for the centralized heating system of Yekaterinburg. The event was organized by the Expert media holding together with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, with the participation of the T-Plus company.
About the company "T-Plus"
T Plus Group is the largest Russian private company, operating in the field of electric power and heat supply, provides energy supply in 16 regions of Russia. The group manages 60 power plants, over 400 boiler houses and almost 18 thousand km of heating networks. The group accounts for more than 6% of the installed capacity of Russian power plants, almost 5% of electricity production and about 8% of the country's district heating market.
The group includes the consolidated generating company PJSC T Plus, which united the assets of OJSC TGC-5, OJSC TGC-6, OJSC TGC-9 and OJSC Volzhskaya TGC, which belonged to IES Holding, as well as a single energy sales company OJSC "Energosbyt Plus".
23.10.2017
After several years of heated discussion and adoption of an important law in Russia, the heat supply market has moved to a qualitative new level with new possibilities. The Sverdlovsk region has become a pilot region moving to a unified model for the heat supply industry. In Yekaterinburg, experts, officials and legislators discussed a “road map” for a forced march towards a new model of the system. Some questions remain unanswered so far. Details are in the FederalPress article.
There have been a number of changes in Russian legislation regulating the heat supply industry. significant changes, providing new opportunities for the development of the heat market. At the conference “The role of the new law on heat supply in the modernization of the region’s infrastructure” in Yekaterinburg, its participants proposed their options for maximizing the use of new prospects with maximum benefit simultaneously for all stakeholders: the population, government, and business.
First of all, the updated legislation is aimed at introducing a new pricing model in the heat supply sector and changing the role of a single heat supply organization in certain price zones. Let us remind you that the bill “On new modeling of heat supply” has been adopted State Duma RF, signed and entered into force at the end of July 2017. The text of the draft law was developed in accordance with the instructions of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as within the framework of the road map approved by order of the Government of the Russian Federation.
After several years of heated discussion, it took another two years to prepare and adopt the document, in which experts, bodies local government, regional and federal authorities. When summing up the voting results, Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko noted the work on the bill as a positive example of interaction between Parliament and the Government: “Senators submitted 22 amendments to the document, all of them were taken into account.”
“As part of the implementation of the bill, the Ministry of Energy has prepared a roadmap for the adoption of by-laws, there are about forty of them. At the same time, one document has already been adopted, a rather important one has been adopted. This is an amendment to the four hundredth resolution “On indexes of payment of citizens for public utilities", which completely synchronizes the implementation of the new model with the institute of the index model. The government has an agreement agreed upon by all federal authorities alternative boiler house price methodology. We hope it will be adopted soon. We have already developed about 7-18 more and are undergoing approval. Our key task is no later than the middle next year“adopt all by-laws aimed at introducing a new model of the heat supply market,” said Alexey Khrapkov, Deputy Director of the Department of Operational Control and Management in the Electric Power Industry of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. - We have reformed the electricity market, and, accordingly, market pricing, market relations in electricity, in the electric power industry, of course, have a sufficient impact on our joint heat supply product strong influence and pressure. Therefore, the lack of competition of thermal power plants on the wholesale market is translated into the heat supply market, which is an absolute challenge.”
As Khrapkov noted, today there is “market pressure from consumers on the heat supply sector.” Industry is moving away from centralized heating and developers are occupying active position when discussing technical connection to district heating, using the opportunity cost method. At the same time, utility consumers are actively increasing the efficiency of heat consumption, reducing specific costs for square meter.
In accordance with the new law, the transition to the proposed model is carried out under the terms of an agreement between the municipal government and business in the heat supply market. In fact, this is the principle of public-private partnership, where business takes responsibility and guarantees to the authorities for the fulfillment of its obligations. At the same time, the transition to a new model is carried out voluntarily, in agreement with regional and local authorities; this is an agreement with mutual obligations.
The first agreements under the new law have already been signed by the Siberian Generating Company with the city of Rubtsovsk in the Altai Territory, as well as between the city of Voronezh and PJSC “Quadra - Power Generation”. Experts predict that in six months to a year, agreements on the transition to the new model will be concluded by about ten more cities and up to ten pilot companies.
“Now we are actively working together with the city authorities, with representatives of organizations and companies that are involved in the process of providing heat supply, working on the issues of developing conditions, parameters and joint interaction to build, first of all, technological relationships within the heat supply system, bearing in mind the consolidation of the heating network complex, bearing in mind the efficiency parameters, capabilities and potential of this efficiency within the system in order to carry out a number of preparatory measures and quite consciously talk about joint actions for the transition to a new model,” said Svetlana Nikonova, Economics Director of PJSC “Quadra - Power Generation” .
The Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Self-Government and Northern Affairs received the new law, which had already been adopted in the first reading. To finalize the law, the Federation Council created a special commission. As the first deputy chairman of the committee, Arkady Chernetsky, noted, “there were certain moments that embarrassed us extremely.”
“First of all, these are additional financial burdens on the regions, which no one could clearly identify. But according to our preliminary calculations, that is, this generally amounted to serious billions of dollars. And with eyes closed it was absolutely impossible to resolve these issues. That is, there should have been a certain openness, regional authorities and local governments should understand what they will receive and what additional burdens will fall on them, - said Arkady Chernetsky, noting that today for a number of municipalities the main problem is not generation . - Today the most important thing is to adopt all by-laws as quickly as possible, to see how pilots can see how this will begin to be implemented. And be very mobile in terms of making changes in a timely manner. If life demands, we are ready to monitor these issues and, if necessary, make appropriate adjustments to this law. This law should improve the situation and in no case create new problems.”
Academic example for the country
A meeting place for participants in an important dialogue at the start of a new one heating season It was not chosen by chance - the capital of the Middle Urals (like the Sverdlovsk region) became a pilot project for the implementation of the new model. By the way, Yekaterinburg became the first discussion platform where such a significant document was discussed. In the Sverdlovsk region and Yekaterinburg today there are large reserves to accelerate the growth of gross regional product (GRP) by updating the heat supply infrastructure.
“On average, more than 20% of heat is lost in networks in the city, and even more in the region. Residents are drowning the streets with their money. At the same time, the European average is 4-8%. But there are also positive examples in the city. For example, in the new Academichesky district, losses are much lower than the world average: only about 3% of heat is lost in the networks there,” note analysts from the Expert media holding, which organized the event together with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) and with the participation of the T-Plus company. .
The advanced heating infrastructure of this area makes it possible to reduce expenses on “street heating” to a minimum, but also to automate the process of heat supply and hot water supply as much as possible, and make heating individual for each apartment. Such a system can be built not only in a separate microdistrict, but throughout the city. Similar projects will be implemented in other cities and regions of Russia in the near future.
According to the regional government, today there are over 1,700 heat sources operating in the Sverdlovsk region. These are mainly boiler rooms low power, which make up about 66% of total number such objects. At the same time, they produce less than 5% of the volume of energy produced. At the same time, in the region there are such large thermal sources, which generate more than 10.5 thousand MW: Sverdlovskaya CHPP, Sredne-Uralskaya GRES, Krasnogorskaya, Pervouralskaya, Novo-Sverdlovskaya, Bogoslovskaya, Verkhnetagilskaya. In general, the communal services of the Sverdlovsk region, as in most constituent entities of the Russian Federation, are characterized by a high percentage of physical and moral wear and tear.
"Monitoring technical condition objects showed that about 43% of heating networks need replacement, both urgent and long-term. This is more than three thousand kilometers of heating networks. Currently, about 5.5-6% of heating networks are changed annually, which, given the standard of at least 10%, does not improve the situation in this sector. The main reason, as we ourselves understand, is the first one - the shortage financial resources in this domain. The second is the “underrepair” that has developed in previous years. And one-time, one-time repairs, as shown by repair work in the city this year, when unprecedented amounts of about more than 2.5 billion rubles were allocated,” noted Nikolai Smirnov, Minister of Energy and Housing and Communal Services of the Sverdlovsk Region.
Voicing the position of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services on the new law on heat supply, Smirnov expressed concern that the by-laws that will be prepared by one department may not be synchronized with the position of another department.
Investors exhaled. Or are you exhausted?..
Economic realities today are such that in order to improve the quality of public utilities and housing services, considerable investments are required in the development and reorganization of infrastructure. But for this, today we need general coordination of actions of all participants in the heat market and legislative guarantees for investors.
“The investment unattractiveness of this industry is obvious. And we started working on heating networks about nine years ago. Therefore, the release of this law, I thank the Federation Council, the State Duma, the Ministry of Energy, T Plus worked very actively on this law. We all remember this. Thanks a lot. Is there an alternative to an alt boiler room? No. Concession agreements are just a form, it is not a model, something new for the heat market,” commented the General Director of Tatenergo JSC Rauzil Khaziev on the situation. - Is it possible to postpone the issue of heat further? Also no. Therefore, the law was even a little late, it should have been adopted during the time of the PDM, and then we would have received greater effect. Now we're just catching up. We support the law also because the law forces us to work together as a subject, a municipality, a city and resource supply organizations. We are now forced to sit down at the same table and work together, be friends according to this law.”
Participants in the heat energy market today are unanimous in the opinion that the law will gradually continue to be supplemented with new amendments and adjustments that will help attract additional investments to update and modernize the infrastructure of this industry. The main motivation for investors remains stability in the tariff calculation system and the ability to plan work for the long term. Let us recall that annual investments in heat supply now reach 87 billion rubles, with a need of 250 billion rubles, according to the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.
“The set of investments that exists is negligible. Private investment, accordingly, has an even smaller share. And everything that we practically invest today is all a budget component. We know very well that budgets are not at their best right now. better situation. According to the estimates we made in 2015, according to regional authorities, the budget directly invested about 150 billion rubles in the heat supply industry. Today there is no such opportunity, but the need that the regions identified in 2015 was even greater, it was about 200 billion rubles of annual investment. Therefore, these challenges must be overcome, and it seems to us that the proposed model is aimed at solving these issues,” stated Alexey Khrapkov.
According to a ministry representative, up to 10 cities and pilot companies will be involved in the process in the first six months to a year. If they are successful, Khrapkov is sure, it is possible to predict exponential growth; the introduction of the new model in Russia will have a massive avalanche-like character.
According to Khrapkov, the new law on heat supply in the modernization of regional infrastructure was adopted on July 29, and has not yet acquired by-laws. “Now there is nothing better for the mass implementation of this law than pilot projects,” he noted, adding that pressure and campaigning are unacceptable during the transition. “The transition to a new model is carried out voluntarily in agreement with regional and local authorities; the balance of the transition is laid down in the law itself,” added the representative of the ministry.
According to the expert, the main thing now is the fastest possible adoption of by-laws, assessment of the experience of pilot projects, mobility in amending the law and by-laws.
Legislators' experience
According to Arkady Chernetsky, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs, the law reached the senators already adopted in the first reading. “In general, it is correct, but some moments embarrassed us extremely, and we were forced to actively intervene. First of all, no one could clearly identify the additional financial burden on the region. According to our preliminary calculations, they amounted to billions of dollars. The Federation Council created a commission, and all 24 proposals we formulated were almost completely taken into account,” Chernetsky noted.
According to a member of the Federation Council, the lack of a complete set of by-laws is confusing. “I’m afraid of imbalances within the system between generation and network workers. Today, for the vast majority of municipalities, the problem is not the problem of generation. When talking about generation, we can discuss whether it is effective or not. Speaking about network farming, in some cases we pose the question of survival - to live or not to live. Generation will have a dominant position in this system, and wisdom is needed on the part of a single heat supply organization, and control on the part of the authorities. The entire paradigm of upcoming actions must be open and understandable, so that, while pulling out one thing, you do not ruin the other. Only practice can dispel these doubts,” notes Chernetsky.
“If life demands, we are ready to make appropriate adjustments to the law. It should improve the situation, and in no case create new problems,” states the member of the Federation Council.
Sverdlovsk experience
While working on the amendments, legislators contacted and studied the reactions of a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which helped identify the most painful points in the draft law. One of these regions was the Sverdlovsk region.
The debts of management companies to the Sverdlovsk branch of T Plus for heat and hot water exceeded 5.2 billion rubles. More than half of the amount of debt of management companies for heat and hot water to the resource supplier is the debt of homeowners in apartment buildings in Yekaterinburg, Pervouralsk, Nizhnyaya Tura, Lesnoy.
According to the Minister of Energy and Housing and Communal Services of the Sverdlovsk Region Nikolai Smirnov, the depreciation of the region's utilities is about 67%. One of the slides of his presentation identifies two municipalities where over 92% of their heating systems need to be replaced. The shortfall in repairs that developed in the 1990s and early 2000s is not compensated for by current active repairs. “On average, about 43% of the heating networks of the Middle Urals need to be replaced - this is about 3 thousand km. In the region, up to 6% of heating networks are replaced annually, with a standard of up to 10%. The annual need of the Sverdlovsk region for construction and reconstruction is 250 heat sources, while no more than 50 are replaced or reconstructed,” he says. At the same time, the minister notes, the unprecedented amounts allocated in Yekaterinburg in 2017 (for example, T Plus PJSC allocated about 2.5 billion rubles) showed that large-scale repair work can paralyze the work of the transport complex.
“In addition, we must understand that the concessionaire will come only if he sees clear working conditions with a clear payback period. Although concessions are concluded for periods of 30 years or more, the concessionaire will actually come for a period of no more than 10, maximum 12 years, so that continue to operate the modernized facilities,” the minister notes.
Pilots' experience
The Sverdlovsk region has selected ten municipalities to implement pilot projects for the comprehensive modernization of heat supply systems. A distinctive feature of these territories was that experts saw the main reason for the formation of debt for resources there in the inefficiency of the heat supply system. In a number of territories, they decided to move away from centralized heat supply, closed large Soviet-era boiler houses, installed local sources as close as possible to social facilities and multi-apartment residential buildings, disconnecting the private sector from centralized heat supply and transferring it to individual gas supply.
“We managed to improve the quality of resources, eliminate the current debt for utilities. And in most cases, this led not to an increase, but to a decrease in residents’ fees. Thus, in Verkhnye Sergi, fees, primarily in the private sector when transferring from centralized to individual gas heating decreased by more than one and a half times in winter,” the minister noted.
"PJSC "Quadra - Power Generation" is one of the largest Russian territorial generating companies created in the process of reforming OJSC RAO "UES of Russia." General Director of the company Semyon Sazonov and the head of the city of Voronezh Alexander Gusev signed a protocol of intent for cooperation on the development of heat supply systems for this million-plus city Russian Black Earth Region. The agreement is a little over a week old, and it is too early to talk about results. According to Svetlana Nikonova, Deputy General Director of PJSC “Quadra - Power Generation”, conditions, parameters and joint cooperation are now being worked out together with the city authorities, with representatives of organizations providing heat supply to the city. interaction to build, first of all, technological relationships within the heat supply system. “The parties have in mind both the consolidation of the network complex, and the efficiency parameters, capabilities and potential within the system, in order to carry out a number of preparatory measures and quite consciously talk about joint actions on transition to a new model,” Nikonova said.
Experts understand that implementing such projects only at the expense of the budget is impossible and impractical. Concession agreements are possible only within the framework of existing, clear and long-term federal laws. “The problem is that this bill, supported by the federal Ministry of Energy, met, for example, a mixed reaction from the federal Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services. There are concerns that by-laws, which will be prepared by different departments, may lead to inconsistency in different areas. Their discussion should be active and open, taking into account the experience of the pilot territories. Only then will the law work usefully and effectively both for owners and operators of heat sources, and for consumers,” experts state.
Consumer motivation
All new houses are built with modern heating systems. This decision was made administratively, and the installation of such systems in old houses, in accordance with the housing code, without a general decision of home owners is impossible. There is only one resource for influencing owners - persuasion. “Heat supply reform without a reform of the consciousness of all participants in the process is impossible, and owners need to be explained not only their rights, but also their responsibilities for maintaining their homes. Including energy-efficient measures,” says Smirnov.
According to Svetlana Nikonova, the problem of consumer motivation is the next stage of great collaboration. “The manufacturer and supplier are motivated, but without the verified motivation of the consumer - the other side of this relationship - it will be difficult for us to achieve a constructive result,” notes a representative of PJSC “Quadra - Power Generation”.
Ekaterinburg - the face of Russia
Ekaterinburg has been nominated by Russia as the city that will host the World Exhibition EXPO 2025. For six months, if the application is successful, he will become the face of Russia, which will be seen by many millions of visitors. The city must show the world its best, modern and efficient.
The T Plus Group estimates the need to modernize the heat supply system of Yekaterinburg at approximately 60 billion rubles by 2030, Alexander Vilesov, Director for Economics and Heating Units of PJSC T Plus, said during the conference. The largest share of investments, 45% of the entire investment program, should be directed to a project to transfer thermal energy consumers to individual heating points (IHP). There are also two more items among the areas: modernization of generation facilities and heat supply networks, they account for 25% each. It is noted that among the sources of attracting financing, 5% comes from the budget, 70% from project financing and 25% from the heat energy tariff.
“Ekaterinburg is an important, supporting, significant city for PJSC T Plus. Moreover, there is the “Academichesky” district here, which I consider the pearl of Russia, where it is possible to build a huge popularization of how it should be done,” he said. Vilesov also noted the effective and worthy of popularization experience of Tatarstan in “closing” the heat supply of vast, populated and industrially saturated territories.
Tatarstan experience
JSC Tatenergo is one of the largest regional generating companies in the Russian Federation. According to General Director Rauzil Khaziev, the wear and tear of heating networks in the republic is also high, and the investment attractiveness of this industry is also not obvious. The problem began to be addressed here about nine years ago. The city of Naberezhnye Chelny had an open heat supply scheme, which covered about 1,400 houses. “We transferred them to a closed scheme, and at the same time moved away from central heating points (CHS) to automated individual heating points (AITP). This resulted in a reduction in household heating costs by 27-30%. There are still about 200 houses left, which we will complete in the near future,” notes the head of the energy company.
After Naberezhnye Chelny, the region moved to Kazan. “For two years, 200-250 AITPs were installed annually, and this year, in accordance with the presidential program, 1300 AITPs were installed,” says Khaziev, adding that the source of funding is the regional capital repair fund, where the main participant is the budget of the subject Russian Federation, which finances about 60% of expenses through the fund.
“This is the “candy” that the population needs,” continues the general director. “In general, the most difficult thing was to hold meetings and convince people. What was our argument? The tariff is growing and will continue to grow. Gas is at the forefront, to which up to 70% of heating sources are connected. Gas is becoming more expensive , the tariff is growing, but payments when the heat supply scheme is “closed” do not increase, or even decrease. What’s in the Ekaterinburg Akademichesky district, what’s in Naberezhnye Chelny, this is what we need to tell consumers about and how to convince them,” states Rauzil. Khaziev.
Delayed calls
The challenges the industry will face in the future were also discussed during the conference. According to Alexander Vilesov, Director of Economics at T Plus PJSC, the main current problem is not the problem of generation, but of networks. “There is no reason to invest in a hot water supply network if the creation of a new individual heating point will exclude it from circulation,” he notes.
Another challenge for heat generation is related to traditional energy. “The possible lifespan and investment period in traditional energy is about 15 more years. It’s difficult to predict what will happen next, but, in my opinion, we need to prepare for the fact that the structure of the electric market will radically change. Now wholesale generation predominates, retail generation is small. Subsequently we will most likely see the following. What is only being written about in newspapers about smart grids (smart grid - TASS note) and distributed generation will become everyday practice. There will be a different kind of energy – distributed,” he said in an interview with TASS.
In the next five years, what is happening in the heat supply sector will be determined and rigidly determined by a very different coefficient of thermal efficiency of housing, even on the scale of one city - we are not talking about percentages, but times. This will need to be balanced by active modernization of the entire housing and communal services complex, so as not to remain lagging behind developed countries. “In Scandinavia, the thermal efficiency of buildings is the highest, and within the framework of the European program, a number of houses with so-called zero emissions have already been announced - the house warms itself due to the heat emitted by the residents,” notes Vilesov.
At the same time, the intensive implementation of energy saving may become another challenge. “Due to the installation of individual metering devices and individual boiler houses, heat consumption in cities, primarily those actively being built up, will decrease or remain constant. Building a business in a market that is not growing is a problem,” he says, noting that while there is no answer to this question, the problem awaits a solution.
"Open" or "closed"?
According to the initiators of the law, the need to transition to a new model of heat supply according to the so-called “closed” scheme is caused by growing heat losses in the current, so-called “open” schemes, implemented in all cities of Russia. On average, losses from all heat supplied by thermal power plants and state district power plants in the Russian Federation increased from 9% in 2000 to 15% in 2015. The greatest losses are observed in the Sverdlovsk region - about 22%, the smallest in Tatarstan - about 5%. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, losses are estimated at 7 and 10%, respectively, the European average is from 4 to 8%. Experts note the heat supply to the new Akademichesky district in Yekaterinburg as an “outstanding result” - here losses do not exceed 3%.
Federal legislation provides for the transition of all Russian cities to a closed heat supply scheme by January 1, 2022. As Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Kravchenko said earlier, due to the effect of released resources, reducing heat and water losses, reducing gas, coal and fuel oil consumption, a serious multiplier effect is expected. “For one ruble of investment, three rubles will be added to GDP,” noted the deputy minister.
About the conference
The conference “The role of the new law on heat supply in the modernization of the region’s infrastructure” was held in Yekaterinburg on October 13 and became the first forum in Russia where the implementation of the new law was discussed. Dedicated to the prospects for the development of the city’s infrastructure, today’s problems in this area, as well as incentives for authorities and citizens to change the situation. The main topic of the conference is the roadmap for the transition to a new model of the heat market for the centralized heating system of Yekaterinburg. The event was organized by the Expert media holding together with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, with the participation of the T-Plus company.
About the company "T-Plus"
T Plus Group is the largest Russian private company operating in the field of electric power and heat supply, providing energy supply in 16 regions of Russia. The group manages 60 power plants, over 400 boiler houses and almost 18 thousand km of heating networks. The group accounts for more than 6% of the installed capacity of Russian power plants, almost 5% of electricity production and about 8% of the country's district heating market.
The group includes the consolidated generating company PJSC T Plus, which united the assets of OJSC TGC-5, OJSC TGC-6, OJSC TGC-9 and OJSC Volzhskaya TGC, which belonged to IES Holding, as well as a single energy sales company OJSC Energosbyt Plus.
New Russian legislation allows a business, by agreement with local authorities launch large-scale investment projects modernization of infrastructure, and most importantly - to guarantee a return on investment
The conference “The role of the new law on heat supply in modernizing the region’s infrastructure,” held in Yekaterinburg on October 13, was dedicated to the prospects for the development of the city’s infrastructure, problems in this area, as well as incentives for authorities and citizens to change the situation. The main topic is the roadmap for the transition to a new model of the heat market under the centralized heat supply system of the capital of the Middle Urals.
The problems of the heat market are not off the agenda, and this is understandable: infrastructure solutions embedded in Soviet time, exhaust the moral and material resource. Once upon a time, centralized heating and hot water supply were enough for housing to be considered comfortable, but now underheating or overheating of premises and dirty water from the tap cause justified dissatisfaction. To improve the quality of public utilities and housing services, considerable investment is needed in infrastructure and its reconstruction. The maximum effects of modernization are possible only in the case of coordinated investments of heat supply companies, the city, residents, and attraction of project financing subject to long-term tariff agreements and a system for guaranteeing effects. This was discussed at the conference.
Market challenges
Let us remind you: the bill “On new modeling of heat supply” came into force on July 29. Local governments, regions, experts, State Duma deputies, and senators of the Federation Council took part in its many years of preparation. As a result, a consensus was reached, noted Alexey Khrapkov, Deputy Director of the Department of Operational Control and Management in the Electric Power Industry of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.
The department has prepared a roadmap for the adoption of by-laws, there are about forty of them. The government has a methodology for the price of an alternative boiler house agreed upon by all federal bodies, and it will be adopted in the near future. The key task, says Alexey Khrapkov, is to adopt all by-laws no later than the middle of next year. Discussions flared up with new strength, now - by-laws, which is what the conference demonstrated: consensus by consensus, and when implementing the law, apparently, opponents will clash more than once.
The official recalled the main motivations that led to changes in legislation on regulation of the heat supply sector. First: after the electricity sector has been reformed, its market pricing and market relations affect unreformed heat (heat and electricity are a common product for many sources). The lack of competition of such thermal power plants in the wholesale electricity market is also transmitted to the heat supply market, which is an absolute challenge. The second motive is market pressure from large consumers: industry and developers began to move away from centralized heat supply. And utility consumers are engaged in energy efficiency, improving the quality of heat consumption, reducing specific costs per square meter. Regarding water supply, this situation could not be maintained: today Vodokanals, having reduced useful supply by 30 - 40%, are concerned about maintaining excess capacity. And in heating supply, now is the time to catch up. It's time for the industry to focus on the customer, which improves consumption efficiency. This is the most powerful challenge.
The range of investments available in the industry to solve its problems is negligible; these are mainly budgetary funds. But budgets are not in the best situation. If in 2015 the state directly invested 150 billion rubles in heat against a need of 200 billion, today there is no such opportunity. The proposed reform model is aimed at solving these issues.
Razdrai is alive
The conference participants discussed how quickly the law will begin to be applied in major cities, how long will it take to implement it in at least half of the regions. Today, two pilot agreements on the transition to a new model have been signed in the country: the Siberian Generating Company with Rubtsovsk in the Altai Territory and PJSC “Quadra - Power Generation” with Voronezh. In six months or a year, there will be up to ten more pilots.
In the Sverdlovsk region and Yekaterinburg they are still categorically against being among the pilots. Let them, they say, while they train “on cats.” Nikolai Smirnov, Minister of Energy and Housing and Communal Services of the Sverdlovsk Region, explained how the modernization of the region’s heat supply complex is being implemented. The main share of technological violations at public utility facilities occurs in the thermal sector, primarily in networks. The underrepairs of the 90s - early 2000s have not been compensated, 43% of heating networks need to be replaced. This is more than 3 thousand kilometers. About 6% of networks change annually, with a standard of at least 10%. 250 heat sources need reconstruction, although more than 50 are being updated. The main reason is lack of money.
The new heating market model regulates only the price. Accordingly, everything that the consumer saves will remain with him in full ruble
According to calculations of those working in the region, “ T Plus“To bring the heat supply infrastructure to normal condition, 60 billion rubles are needed.
The implementation of investment projects is possible only within the framework of clear long-term federal laws, noted Nikolai Smirnov. - Proposed the federal law will help in attracting investment. But the problem is that we consider it separately, not in conjunction with other industries. It is noteworthy that the bill, which was fully supported by the Ministry of Energy, received a mixed reaction from the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services. There is a fear that by-laws, which will be prepared by different departments, may lead to inconsistent positions in various areas. If you do not link the situation that will develop in the heat supply system with others, including water supply, you can get a significant burden on budgets at all levels.
Forgot the main thing
It is very important, the conference participants emphasized, to stimulate consumer energy efficiency. Until now, our tariff regulation is that we guarantee the regulated organization to receive the annual required gross revenue. A new model The heat supply market regulates only the price. Accordingly, everything that the consumer saves will remain with him in full. Reduced consumption by 20% - the price will not change, but you will pay 20% less. This is the most powerful motivating story of this law.
However, so far all participants in the process are ignoring consumers. In Germany, when the corresponding modernization programs were introduced, colossal propaganda went on for five to seven years technological solutions. We have complete silence. At the same time, the largest heat losses for the consumer are at the end of the chain “source - network - home,” noted the department’s adviser project work Executive Committee of the ONF and columnist for Expert magazine Evgeniy Ogorodnikov:
We consume 60% of heat completely irrationally, it goes into the air, is lost at sources, in transit. For Western colleagues, this figure is three times less; in a normal economy, this money would be used for investment. It would seem that invest in energy-efficient measures, reduce losses by three times and pay for the modernization. But our legislation has not yet allowed us to do this. We calculated that if in the future we save every fourth gigacalorie, investments in the entire industry will amount to 5 trillion rubles. This includes a complete modernization of networks, installation of ITP, heat and energy efficient measures inside houses. Ideally, such modernization pays for itself in eight years. This is a completely reasonable period, especially at current rates. If we actively modernize the housing and communal services system, the cost of consumption will seriously fall. Let’s say we reduced consumption by 50%, but we can double the tariff: the payment for the population will remain the same. We get expensive but effective heat, but the consumer does not feel the high cost. This effect is often underestimated.
They counted and had fun
Updating the heating infrastructure can accelerate the growth of regional GRP - up to 1% over two decades. The effects of modernization will manifest themselves in two stages. The first stage and decade is modernization itself and all the effects associated with it: investments, capital construction projects, jobs, increased quality of life. The indirect effect is the industry's return to profitability. The effects of the second stage and decade are the release of a significant amount of funds from the population: instead of spending money on poor-quality heat supply and hot water supply, people will receive a stable tariff, and the saved resources will be able to be used for consumption.
There are large reserves for this in the Sverdlovsk region and Yekaterinburg. For example, in the new Academichesky district, network losses are only about 3%. The infrastructure of this area, built according to modern standards, makes it possible to automate the process of heat and hot water supply as much as possible, make heating individual, solve accounting problems by automating calculations, and put an end to disputes between market participants.
A similar system can be built not only in a separate new microdistrict, but throughout Yekaterinburg. We have everything for this: an investor, proven technologies, an understanding of the problems and specifics of the city. In addition, Russian legislation now allows, by agreement with local authorities, to launch large-scale investment projects to modernize infrastructure, and most importantly, to guarantee the return of invested funds.