The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation proposed to increase the amount of support for the construction of small hydropower plants

The Russian Ministry of Energy has sent a proposal to the government to expand the renewable energy support program in terms of increasing the volume of monetary support for the construction of small hydropower plants, Deputy Minister of Energy Pavel Snikkars told reporters during the IX conference “Priorities of the market electric power industry in Russia” “NP Market Council”.

“Now it is going through the approval stages. We will initiate support measures,” he added.

“Today, investors in hydropower generation are showing little interest in this program; for example, not a single application was received for the last selection. Therefore  we proposed to increase the total amount allocated to support small hydroelectric power plants within the framework of the renewable energy supply agreement by 30 billion rubles for the period 2030–2035, which will allow the commissioning of up to 82 MW of small hydroelectric power stations per year,” said the deputy minister.

In June, Snikkars reported that the Ministry of Energy may revise upward the parameters for small hydroelectric power plants construction projects as part of the selection of renewable energy projects carried out under the CSA-RES program.

In particular, he admitted that there would be a “revision of the maximum single-rate price and, possibly, an increase in the quota.”

He also did not rule out that SHPPs could be supported by market mechanisms after 2035. The decision to extend the CSA-RES regarding SHPPs will be made based on the results of an analysis of competitions with new criteria for these projects, which will be held within the framework of the current program, the Deputy Minister said then.