"We are forced to be friends." The Heat Supply Law forced the market to play by new rules
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 government and Northern Affairs Arkady Chernetsky, 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 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 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 of the Sverdlovsk Region Nikolai Smirnov, wear and tear 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 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. 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." 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, now, together with the city authorities, with representatives of organizations providing heat supply to the city, are working out the conditions, parameters and joint interactions 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 for the 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, understandable 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 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,” says Smirnov.
According to Svetlana Nikonova, the problem of consumer motivation is the next big stage 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 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 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. 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 happens in the Akademichesky district of Yekaterinburg, what happens 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 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 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. 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 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.
EKATERINBURG, October 16 (BigpowerNews) Two pilot projects of a new model of urban heating began to operate in Russia. This was announced on Friday, October 13, at the conference “The Role of the New Law on Heat Supply in Modernizing the Regional Infrastructure” in Yekaterinburg by Deputy Director of the Department of Operational Control and Management in the Electric Power Industry of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation Alexey Khrapkov.
“Two agreements on the transition to a new model have already been signed; the Siberian Generating Company has 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 within the framework of the 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”. In the first six months or a year, up to 10 cities and pilot companies will be involved in the process; if they are successful, we predict exponential growth; the introduction of the new model in Russia will have a massive avalanche-like character,” he said, TASS reports.
The new law on heat supply in the modernization of regional infrastructure was adopted on July 29 and has not yet acquired by-laws, Khrapkov noted. “Now there is nothing better for the mass implementation of this law than pilot projects,” he emphasized, adding that pressure is unacceptable during the transition.
According to the initiators of the law, TASS recalls, 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 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 to a “closed” heat supply scheme by January 1, 2022. As Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Kravchenko said earlier, a serious multiplier effect is expected due to the effect of released resources, reduced heat and water losses, and reduced consumption of gas, coal and fuel oil.
The conference “The role of the new law on heat supply in modernizing the region’s infrastructure” is 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 a 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.
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 in the Altai Territory, and an agreement between the city of Voronezh and PJSC "Quadra - Power Generation" was signed the other day 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 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 Self-Government and Northern Affairs, 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 of municipalities, the problem is not the problem of generation. Speaking about generation, we can discuss whether it is effective or not. Speaking about network management, in some cases we raise the question of survival - to live or not 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, taking out one thing, it will 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 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. 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". 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 the 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 agreements are now being worked out together with the city authorities and representatives of organizations providing heat supply to the city. interactions 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 for the 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 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,” Smirnov believes.
According to Svetlana Nikonova, the problem of consumer motivation is the next stage of great 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 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. 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 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 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. 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 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 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".
The conference "The role of the new law on heat supply in the modernization of the region's infrastructure" was held on October 13 in Yekaterinburg as a round table. The event was held by the Expert media holding together with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, with the participation of the unified heat supply organization of Yekaterinburg (ETO), the T-Plus company.
The modernization of municipal infrastructure is long overdue: everyone understands this. There is a desire, technologies that allow you to save Natural resources, we are armed, there is only one problem - at whose expense? How to act so that the result is favorable for the economy as a whole and for the end consumer?
The methods and risks have been discussed for many years. In July 2017, the State Duma adopted a law regulating the transition to a new market model of the centralized heat supply system. And just the other day, the methodology developed by the Ministry of Energy was approved by the government.
However, contrary to bad tradition, there will be no total implementation of innovations; they decided to first discuss the prospects for implementing the model in the regions and test them on pilot projects.
The innovators plan to make the Sverdlovsk region, primarily the city of Yekaterinburg, one of the “pilots”. It is no coincidence that the Ural capital became the first platform for discussion among experts, officials, business representatives and the public.
Innovations are based on the role of ETO, the rejection of government regulation tariffs - instead they plan to set the maximum cost of heat using the “alternative boiler house” method.
One of its developers, Deputy Director of the Department of Operational Control and Management in the Electric Power Industry of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, Aleksey KHRAPKOV, spoke about the essence of the new model:
The Ministry has prepared a roadmap for the adoption of about 40 by-laws - they will be approved no later than mid-2018.
We rebalanced the functions of the unified heat supply organization (ETO), which, as an institution, was introduced back in 2010 by Law 190. ETO becomes a kind of technical and commercial dispatcher involved in optimizing capacity utilization and contractual relations within the boiler. It will serve as a “single window” for consumers and authorities responsible for the development and reliable state of heat supply.
Tariff regulation within the ETO boiler will be abolished, there will be free pricing, free negotiated prices. An ideal network, an ideal boiler room using the best available technologies were taken as the standard.
We conducted an examination of 512 cities, home to 75 million people. According to our estimates, when adjusting the price throughout the country* to the price of an alternative boiler house you will need no more than 0.6% points above inflation (4%).
I would like to emphasize that the transition to a new model is carried out voluntarily, by agreement of the regional and local authorities, with an assessment of all consequences in relation to a specific municipality. This is nothing more than an element of public-private partnership.
There are first steps. The Siberian Generating Company signed such an agreement with the city of Rubtsovsk in the Altai Territory, and they have already started working on the new model. An agreement was recently signed between the city of Voronezh and PJSC “Quadra - Power Generation”.
Experts also noted that the Sverdlovsk region has large reserves for saving thermal energy - on average in the region, network losses are more than 20% (the European average is 4–8%).
(*Correspondent’s note: it is obvious that such a price increase occurred subject to the transition to new model countrywide. If we take the scale of one city, the parameters will be different.)
Opinion.
Stepan SOLZHENITSYN, energy expert in the Russian Federation and CIS countries at the consulting company MC Kinscy (one of the writer’s three sons):
Good working centralized system heat supply, especially when combined generation electricity and heat - this is our “answer to Chamberlain” from the point of view of ecology, energy efficiency, and greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s strange how we sometimes envy progressive technologies abroad, but we ourselves do not appreciate the progressive technology that our fathers laid down, and precisely under our conditions, we allow it to fall apart before our eyes. If the existing system is not able to reliably provide the consumer with heat, then he will switch to an autonomous system. Each leaving consumer forces heating company shift the costs of maintaining the equipment to those remaining. This leads to an increase in tariffs, dissatisfaction and further stimulates consumer departure.
Nikolai Smirnov, Minister of Energy and Housing and Public Utilities of the Sverdlovsk Region, thanked the forum organizers, spoke about the situation in the region and expressed his own position:
Consumption volumes decrease annually by 10 to 15%. In terms of structure, we have predominantly gas, the share of which in the fuel balance is slightly more than 53%. 55 out of 94 municipalities have modern heat supply schemes, which make it possible to make long-term plans for their modernization. There are 50 investment programs in the region worth about 3 billion rubles and 32 concession agreements with a total investment of more than 5.6 billion.
As for the new law on heat supply, its introduction must be synchronized with the processes occurring in other areas of housing and communal services, especially in the water supply system. After all, without upgrading the cold water system, we will not get the desired effect from switching to a closed DHW system. Inconsistency of positions can lead to uncertain policies regarding consumers and a significant increase in the burden on the budgets of regions and municipalities. In conditions of limiting the growth of utility bills, we will be forced to take upon ourselves the payment of not only benefits and subsidies, but also the entire difference in tariffs.
We see that for now there can be two sources of financing for the implementation of models - consumer funds, which go through the tariff, and budget funds. For the city of Yekaterinburg alone, about 90 billion rubles are needed, and this does not include the money needed for repairs inside houses. Putting all this on the consumer at once, in the tariff, is economically wrong. Nobody will pay this amount. Therefore, modernization is carried out in stages.
Now in the South-Western microdistrict we have taken up pilot project transfer to closed system DHW in five houses. I met with residents myself and spoke honestly: perhaps there will be a slight reduction in fees. But at the same time the quality will increase sharply utilities. Of the five, only three have made a positive decision so far.
Therefore, as for me personally, I support the law, but at the same time I am not a supporter of the Sverdlovsk region or the city of Yekaterinburg being among the pilots. I would like, let’s say, to look at other people’s rake.
By the way, the minister’s position was largely supported by representatives public organizations, and business, including energy supply.
Doubts have been raised about the suitability of the model for small towns. The forum organizers are ready to analyze the prospects for transition to a new model for Nizhny Tagil.
If the topic is interesting to readers, we will continue " round table» on the pages of TR.
Irina PETROVA.
Advantages of modernization based on the principle of “alternative boiler house”
according to calculations by Expert magazine
Companies will begin to make profits, new jobs will appear:
Modernization can generate new tax revenues - up to 1.5 billion rubles. income tax
Up to 1 billion rubles. income tax individuals from creating new jobs
Budget expenses on “orphan” objects will decrease
In total, the direct effect of the modernization program in Yekaterinburg over ten years is 5.5% of GRP, or 0.5% per year.
In addition, there will be a demand for pipes, IHP, fittings, boilers, etc.
If modernization is not launched, the heat supply may face collapse:
Increase in the number of accidents on heating mains and heat sources. Emergency mode to eliminate them.
Increase in subsidies from the budget and increase in the number of “orphan” objects.
Population dissatisfaction with rising tariffs and falling quality of housing and communal services.
The annual decline in the investment attractiveness of heat supply is due to deterioration of funds and rapid growth in energy prices.
But the most important thing is that the payment will remain at the same level
As the vacation decreases, the tariff can be increased proportionally. In most regions, during modernization, the payment for heat will remain the same (without taking into account changes in gas prices and inflation).