The State Duma of the Russian Federation approved the law on the power facilities decommissioning procedure

The State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the second and third readings the law on the power facilities decommissioning procedure  for repair and from operation.

Currently, there is no mechanism for the development, assessment and implementation of substitute measures to ensure the possibility of decommissioning the power facility. The 2-year period established by the law "On Electricity" to prohibit the decommissioning of an power facility does not allow adequately ensuring the development and implementation of such measures, the Cabinet of Ministers notes.

According to the Ministry of Energy of Russia, the absence of an effective mechanism for decommissioning power facilities generally reduces the reliability of the power system, increases the share of inefficient generation and leads to an additional financial burden on end users.

The law provides for a procedure for assessing the possibility of continuing to operate an power facility on market conditions and establishing a procedure for determining the list and implementation of replacement measures and sources of financing. According to the document, TASS reports, the System Operator is empowered to participate in the formation and issuance of technological requirements for the decommissioning of power facilities. The competences of the Russian government are being clarified in the sphere of the decommissioning of power facilities for repair and from operation - it will approve the rules for such decommissioning.

The document stipulates that prices (tariffs) for capacity produced and supplied to buyers on the wholesale market using electricity production facilities are subject to state regulation, in respect of which a requirement has been made to suspend their decommissioning (such prices are set in the form of a procedure for determining them), and also the payment for the implementation of the decommissioning of the power generation facility by the grid organization. This payment does not include the costs of implementing the investment program of the grid organization, which are taken into account when setting tariffs for electricity transmission services.

The decision to approve the decommissioning of power facility or to send a request to the owner to suspend such a decommissioning shall be made for each power transmission line, equipment and (or) device of each power generation facility or power grid facility separately. The suspension of the decommissioning of one facility in connection with the need to continue the operation of another facility is not allowed, except in cases established by the government.

The law will come into force upon the expiration of 180 days from the date of publication.