Viktor Karankevich told how the common electricity market of the Union State of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus will work
The Minister of Energy took part in a meeting of the commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia on energy, which was held in Vitebsk.
According to the head of the Ministry of Energy, the governments and relevant ministries of Belarus and Russia have carried out large-scale work to form a regulatory framework and create the necessary conditions for the launch of the common electricity market of the Union State.
A draft interstate agreement on the formation of a common electricity market has been prepared, agreed upon and passed through internal state procedures, which defines the powers of government bodies, market participants and infrastructure organizations, as well as the principles of cross-border trade. As a follow-up to the Agreement, Market Functioning Rules will be approved. Work on their preparation is almost completed.
“In fact, we can talk about the readiness of the common electricity market for the first stage of work,” said Viktor Karankevich.
He explained that at this stage, trade in electricity between authorized legal entities will be organized. On the Belarusian side this will be the Belenergo production association.
At the second stage - taking into account joint work on a common gas market and the planned equalization of cost conditions for gas - deeper integration in the electric power industry is envisaged with the expansion of the subject composition of market participants and the organization of a common technological process of operational dispatch control. In the future, the common electricity market should be synchronized with the work of the common electricity market of the Eurasian Economic Union.
“The formation of a wholesale electricity trading market is aimed at creating an equal competitive environment, the functioning of which will ensure a variety of price offers for electricity consumers. In addition, there will be incentives for updating and developing generating capacities and attracting additional investments into the industry,” the Minister explained.
He added that the development of the mechanisms underlying the common electricity market will ultimately contribute to solving common problems for the two countries to ensure the sustainable development of power systems, increasing the reliability of power supply to consumers, and minimizing possible risks in the event of the emergence of new sources of turbulence in global power markets. “Further integration of our countries in the electric power industry will be a significant contribution to increasing the competitiveness of national economies,” concluded Viktor Karankevich.