Electric power industry is a basic industry, the development of which is an indispensable condition for the development of the economy and other spheres of social life. The world produces about 13,000 billion kWh, of which the USA alone accounts for up to 25%. Over 60% of the world's electricity is produced at thermal power plants (in the USA, Russia and China - 70-80%), approximately 20% - at hydroelectric power stations, 17% - at nuclear power plants (in France and Belgium - 60%, Sweden and Switzerland - 40-45%).
The most supplied with electricity per capita are Norway (28 thousand kW/h per year), Canada (19 thousand), Sweden (17 thousand).
The electric power industry, together with the fuel industries, including exploration, production, processing and transportation of energy sources, as well as electrical energy itself, forms the most important fuel and energy complex (FEC) for the economy of any country. About 40% of the world's primary energy resources are spent on generating electricity. In a number of countries, the main part of the fuel and energy complex belongs to the state (France, Italy, etc.), but in many countries the main role in the fuel and energy complex is played by mixed capital.
The electric power industry deals with the production of electricity, its transportation and distribution. The peculiarity of the electric power industry is that its products cannot be accumulated for later use: the production of electricity at each moment of time must correspond to the size of consumption, taking into account the needs of the power plants themselves and losses in the networks. Therefore, connections in the electric power industry are constant, continuous and carried out instantly.
Electric power has a great impact on the territorial organization of the economy: it allows for the development of fuel and energy resources in remote eastern and northern regions; the development of main high-voltage lines contributes to a freer location of industrial enterprises; large hydroelectric power plants attract energy-intensive industries; in the eastern regions, the electric power industry is a branch of specialization and serves as the basis for the formation of territorial production complexes.
It is believed that for normal economic development, the growth in electricity production must outpace the growth in production in all other sectors. Most of the generated electricity is consumed by industry. In terms of electricity production (1015.3 billion kWh in 2007), Russia ranks fourth after the USA, Japan and China.
In terms of the scale of electricity production, the Central Economic Region (17.8% of all-Russian production), Eastern Siberia (14.7%), the Urals (15.3%) and Western Siberia (14.3%) are distinguished. Among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in electricity generation, the leaders are Moscow and the Moscow region, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, the Irkutsk region, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and the Sverdlovsk region. Moreover, the electric power industry of the Center and the Urals is based on imported fuel, while the Siberian regions operate on local energy resources and transmit electricity to other regions.
The electric power industry of modern Russia is mainly represented by thermal power plants (Fig. 2) operating on natural gas, coal and fuel oil; in recent years, the share of natural gas in the fuel balance of power plants has been increasing. About 1/5 of domestic electricity is generated by hydroelectric power plants and 15% by nuclear power plants.
Thermal power plants operating on low-quality coal, as a rule, gravitate towards the places where it is mined. For fuel oil power plants, it is optimal to locate them near oil refineries. Gas-fired power plants, due to the relatively low costs of its transportation, primarily gravitate towards the consumer. Moreover, first of all, power plants in large and major cities are switched to gas, since it is an environmentally cleaner fuel than coal and fuel oil. Combined heat and power plants (which produce both heat and electricity) gravitate towards the consumer, regardless of the fuel on which they operate (the coolant quickly cools down when transferred over a distance).
The largest thermal power plants with a capacity of more than 3.5 million kW each are Surgutskaya (in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug), Reftinskaya (in the Sverdlovsk region) and Kostroma State District Power Plant. Kirishskaya (near St. Petersburg), Ryazanskaya (Central region), Novocherkasskaya and Stavropolskaya (North Caucasus), Zainskaya (Volga region), Reftinskaya and Troitskaya (Urals), Nizhnevartovskaya and Berezovskaya in Siberia have a capacity of more than 2 million kW.
Geothermal power plants, which harness the deep heat of the Earth, are tied to an energy source. In Russia, Pauzhetskaya and Mutnovskaya GTPPs operate in Kamchatka.
Hydroelectric power plants are very efficient sources of electricity. They use renewable resources, are easy to manage and have a very high efficiency (more than 80%). Therefore, the cost of the electricity they produce is 5-6 times lower than at thermal power plants.
It is most economical to build hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) on mountain rivers with a large difference in elevation, while on lowland rivers, large reservoirs must be created to maintain a constant water pressure and reduce dependence on seasonal fluctuations in water volumes. To make fuller use of the hydroelectric potential, cascades of hydroelectric power stations are being built. In Russia, hydropower cascades have been created on the Volga and Kama, Angara and Yenisei. The total capacity of the Volga-Kama cascade is 11.5 million kW. And it includes 11 power plants. The most powerful are Volzhskaya (2.5 million kW) and Volgogradskaya (2.3 million kW). There are also Saratov, Cheboksary, Votkinsk, Ivankovsk, Uglich and others.
Even more powerful (22 million kW) is the Angara-Yenisei cascade, which includes the largest hydroelectric power stations in the country: Sayanskaya (6.4 million kW), Krasnoyarsk (6 million kW), Bratsk (4.6 million kW), Ust-Ilimskaya (4.3 million kW).
The future lies in the use of non-traditional energy sources - wind, tidal energy, the Sun and the internal energy of the Earth. There are only two tidal stations in our country (in the Sea of Okhotsk and on the Kola Peninsula) and one geothermal station in Kamchatka.
Nuclear power plants (NPPs) use highly transportable fuel. Considering that 1 kg of uranium replaces 2.5 thousand tons of coal, it is more expedient to locate nuclear power plants near the consumer, primarily in areas deprived of other types of fuel. The world's first nuclear power plant was built in 1954 in Obninsk (Kaluga region). There are currently 8 nuclear power plants in Russia, of which the most powerful are Kursk and Balakovo (Saratov region) with 4 million kW each. In the western regions of the country there are also Kola, Leningrad, Smolensk, Tver, Novovoronezh, Rostov, Beloyarsk. In Chukotka - Bilibino ATPP.
The most important trend in the development of the electric power industry is the integration of power plants in energy systems that produce, transmit and distribute electricity between consumers. They represent a territorial combination of power plants of different types operating at a common load. The integration of power plants into energy systems contributes to the ability to select the most economical load mode for different types of power plants; in conditions of the large extent of the state, the existence of standard time and the mismatch of peak loads in individual parts of such energy systems, it is possible to maneuver the production of electricity in time and space and transfer it as needed in opposite directions.
Currently, the Unified Energy System (UES) of Russia is functioning. It includes numerous power plants in the European part and Siberia, which operate in parallel, in a single mode, concentrating more than 4/5 of the total power of the country’s power plants. In the regions of Russia east of Lake Baikal, small isolated power systems operate.
Russia's energy strategy for the next decade provides for the further development of electrification through the economically and environmentally sound use of thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants and non-traditional renewable types of energy, increasing the safety and reliability of existing nuclear power plants.
13 .Light industry
Light industry- a set of specialized industries that produce mainly consumer goods from various types of raw materials. Light industry occupies one of the important places in the production of gross national product and plays a significant role in the country's economy.
Light industry carries out both primary processing of raw materials and production of finished products. Light industry enterprises also produce products for industrial, technical and special purposes, which are used in furniture, aviation, automotive, chemical, electrical, food and other industries, agriculture, law enforcement agencies, transport and healthcare. One of the features of light industry is the rapid return on investment. Technological features of the industry make it possible to quickly change the range of products at a minimum of costs, which ensures high mobility of production.
Light industry combines several sub-sectors:
1.Textile.
1.Cotton.
2.Wool.
3.Silk.
4.Linen.
5. Hemp and jute.
6.Knitted.
7. Felting.
8.Net knitting.
2. Sewing.
3. Tanning.
4.Fur.
5. Shoe.
Light industry unites a group of industries that provide the population with consumer goods (fabrics, shoes, clothing), as well as producing industrial products and cultural and household goods (TVs, refrigerators, etc.). Light industry has close ties with agriculture, the chemical industry and mechanical engineering. They supply it with raw materials - cotton, natural and artificial leather, dyes, as well as machinery and equipment.
The leading branch of light industry is textile. It is the largest in terms of production volume and the number of workers employed in it. It includes the production of all types of fabrics, knitwear, carpets, etc.
Most fabrics are produced from chemical fibers. The United States is their largest producer, almost three times ahead of its closest competitors - India and Japan. They are followed by the “Asian tigers” – the Republic of Korea and Taiwan. Developing countries produce the most cotton fabrics. The undisputed leader here is India, followed by the USA and China. The production of silk fabrics is traditional for Asian countries, wool - for such developed countries as the UK, USA, Italy. They are also the main exporters of these fabrics. The least amount of linen fabric is produced in the world. The leaders in this industry are Russia, Poland, Belarus and France.
Various carpets are popular in everyday life, mass production of which is developed in the USA and India. But the most valuable carpets are handmade. They are supplied to the world market by Iran, Afghanistan, and Türkiye.
Compared to other sectors of light industry, the geography of textiles has undergone the greatest changes. Over the past decades, the share of developed countries in global textile production has decreased significantly. In developing countries, on the contrary, the pace of industry development is increasing. Along with the long-time leaders - India and Egypt - textile production is rapidly developing in the countries of Southeast Asia, which have cheap labor.
The clothing and haberdashery industries are closely related to the textile industry. Sewing ready-made clothing is confidently moving to the east: India and China are competing on equal terms with European countries in sewing clothing for mass demand. However, today Rome is the center of mass fashion, and Paris is the center of “high” fashion.
The leather and footwear industry is concentrated mainly in developed countries. The USA and Italy are ahead. Each of these countries produces almost 600 million pairs of shoes annually. China and Taiwan took first place in shoe exports, producing cheap and relatively high-quality shoes, including many sports shoes.
Fur industry enterprises produce very expensive products from natural raw materials. At one time, in Canada, instead of money, beaver skins were in circulation, and in Siberia, sable fur was used. Four countries - Russia, the USA, Germany and China - have captured almost the entire world fur market. Greece plays a special role, where fur trimmings from all over the world are processed. In many countries, cheap clothes are made from faux fur.
An important branch of light industry is jewelry production, which includes the processing of precious metals and stones. This industry is developed in the USA, India, Israel, and Western European countries. The Netherlands is called the “diamond center” of the world – most of the diamonds mined on Earth are cut here.
Toy production is very widespread in the world. It is developed in almost every country, but three leaders stand out: the USA, China (Hong Kong) and Japan.
According to the characteristics of their location, light industry enterprises are divided into groups. The first group includes those that engage in primary processing of raw materials and focus on sources of raw materials. The second includes those that produce finished products. They are located near the consumer. The third group is enterprises whose placement takes into account both the raw material base and the consumer.
For easy industry It is characterized by less pronounced territorial specialization compared to other industries, since almost every region has one or another of its enterprises. However, in Russia it is possible to distinguish specialized nodes and areas, especially in the textile industry industry, providing a specific range of products. For example, the Ivanovo and Tver regions specialize in the production of cotton products. The Central Economic Region specializes in the production of products from all textile industries industry. But most often the sub-sectors of light industry are complementary to the economic complex of the regions, providing only the internal needs of the regions.
Factors for locating light enterprises industry varied, but the main ones can be identified.
1. Raw material factor, which primarily influences the location of enterprises for the primary processing of raw materials (for example, flax processing factories are located in flax production areas, wool washing enterprises - in sheep breeding areas, enterprises for the primary processing of leather - near large meat processing plants).
2. Population, i.e. consumer factor. Finished products are light industry less transportable compared to semi-finished products. For example, it is cheaper to supply pressed raw cotton than cotton fabrics.
3. The factor of labor resources, which provides for their significant size and qualifications, since all light industries industry labor-intensive. Historically, in the light industry industry predominantly female labor is used, so it is necessary to take into account the possibility of using both female and male labor in the regions (i.e., develop light industry in areas where heavy industry is concentrated, to create appropriate production in areas where light industry is concentrated industry).
In the past, the availability of fuel and energy resources played a significant role in location, since textile and footwear production are fuel-intensive. Currently, this factor is considered secondary due to the development of the power transmission line network, oil and gas pipelines.
Lightweight raw material base industry Russia is quite developed, it provides a significant part of the needs of enterprises for flax fiber, wool, chemical fiber and threads, fur and leather raw materials.
The main supplier of natural raw materials for light industry- Agriculture.
The leading position of the thermal power industry is a historically established and economically justified pattern of development of the Russian energy industry.
Thermal power plants (TPPs) operating in Russia can be classified according to the following criteria:
§ by sources of energy used - organic fuel, geothermal energy, solar energy;
§ by type of energy supplied - condensation, heating;
§ on the use of installed electrical capacity and the participation of thermal power plants in covering the electrical load schedule - base (at least 5000 hours of use of installed electrical capacity per year), half-peak or maneuverable (3000 and 4000 hours per year, respectively), peak (less than 1500-2000 h per year).
In turn, thermal power plants operating on fossil fuels differ in technological characteristics:
§ steam turbines (with steam power plants using all types of organic fuel: coal, fuel oil, gas, peat, shale, firewood and wood waste, products of energy processing of fuel, etc.);
§ diesel;
§ gas turbine;
§ steam-gas.
The most developed and widespread in Russia are thermal power plants for general use, operating on organic fuel (gas, coal), mainly steam turbine ones.
The largest thermal power plant on the territory of Russia is the largest on the Eurasian continent, Surgut GRES-2 (5600 MW), running on natural gas (GRES is an abbreviation preserved from Soviet times, meaning a state-owned regional power plant). Of the coal-fired power plants, Reftinskaya GRES has the largest installed capacity (3800 MW). The largest Russian thermal power plants also include Surgutskaya GRES-1 and Kostromskaya GRES, with a capacity of over 3 thousand MW each.
In the process of industry reform, Russia's largest thermal power plants were merged into wholesale generating companies (OGKs) and territorial generating companies (TGKs).
At the moment, the main task of developing thermal generation is to ensure the technical re-equipment and reconstruction of existing power plants, as well as the introduction of new generating capacities using advanced technologies in electricity production.
Hydropower
Hydropower provides system services (frequency, power) and is a key element in ensuring the system reliability of the country's Unified Energy System, having more than 90% of the regulation power reserve. Of all existing types of power plants, hydroelectric power plants are the most maneuverable and are able, if necessary, to quickly significantly increase production volumes, covering peak loads.
Russia has great hydropower potential, which implies significant opportunities for the development of domestic hydropower. About 9% of the world's hydro resources are concentrated in Russia. Russia ranks second in the world in terms of hydropower resources, ahead of the USA, Brazil, and Canada. Currently, the total theoretical hydropower potential of Russia is determined at 2900 billion kWh of annual electricity generation or 170 thousand kWh per 1 sq. km of territory. However, only 20% of this potential has now been exploited. One of the obstacles to the development of hydropower is the remoteness of the main part of the potential, concentrated in central and eastern Siberia and the Far East, from the main consumers of electricity.
Figure 1 Electricity production by hydroelectric power stations in Russia (in billion kWh) and the capacity of hydroelectric power stations in Russia (in GW) in 1991-2010
Electricity generation by Russian hydroelectric power plants provides annual savings of 50 million tons of standard fuel, the savings potential is 250 million tons; makes it possible to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by up to 60 million tons per year, which provides Russia with virtually unlimited potential for increasing energy capacity under the conditions of strict requirements for limiting greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to its direct purpose - the production of electricity using renewable resources - hydropower additionally solves a number of important problems for society and the state: the creation of drinking and industrial water supply systems, the development of navigation, the creation of irrigation systems for agriculture, fish farming, regulation of river flows, allowing combat floods and floods, ensuring the safety of the population.
Currently, there are 102 hydroelectric power stations operating in Russia with a capacity of over 100 MW. The total installed capacity of hydraulic units at hydroelectric power stations in Russia is approximately 46 GW (5th place in the world). In 2011, Russian hydroelectric power plants generated 153 billion kWh of electricity. In the total volume of electricity production in Russia, the share of hydroelectric power plants in 2011 was 15.2%.
During the reform of the electric power industry, the federal hydro-generating company OJSC HydroOGK (current name OJSC RusHydro) was created, which united the bulk of the country's hydropower assets. Today the company manages 68 renewable energy facilities, including 9 stations of the Volga-Kama cascade with a total installed capacity of more than 10.2 GW, the first-born of large hydropower in the Far East - Zeyskaya HPP (1,330 MW), Bureyskaya HPP (2,010 MW), Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station (455 MW) and several dozen hydroelectric power stations in the North Caucasus, including the Kashkhatau hydroelectric power station (65.1 MW), commissioned in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic at the end of 2010. RusHydro also includes geothermal stations in Kamchatka and the highly maneuverable capacities of the Zagorsk pumped storage power plant (PSPP) in the Moscow region, used to level out the daily unevenness of the electrical load schedule in the IPS Center.
Until recently, the largest Russian hydroelectric power station was considered the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP named after. P. S. Neporozhniy with a capacity of 6721 MW (Khakassia). However, after the accident on August 17, 2009, its capacity was partially disabled. Restoration work is currently in full swing and is expected to be completed by 2014. On February 24, 2010, hydraulic unit No. 6 with a capacity of 640 MW was connected to the network under load; in December 2011, hydroelectric unit No. 1 was put into operation. Today, hydroelectric unit No. 1, 3, 4, 5 are in operation with a total capacity of 2560 MW. The second largest hydroelectric power station in Russia by installed capacity is the Krasnoyarsk HPP.
The promising development of hydropower in Russia is associated with the development of the potential of the rivers of the North Caucasus (the Zaramagskie, Kashkhatau, Gotsatlinskaya hydroelectric power stations, Zelenchukskaya hydroelectric power station are being built; plans include the second stage of the Irganai hydroelectric power station, the Agvalinskaya hydroelectric power station, the development of the Kuban cascade and the Sochi hydroelectric power stations, as well as the development of small hydropower in North Ossetia and Dagestan), Siberia (completion of the Boguchanskaya, Vilyuiskaya-III and Ust-Srednekanskaya hydroelectric power stations, design of the South Yakutsk hydroelectric power plant and Evenkiyskaya hydroelectric power station), further development of the hydropower complex in the center and north of the European part of Russia, in the Volga region, construction of leveling capacities in the main consuming regions (in particular, the construction of the Leningradskaya and Zagorskaya PSPP-2).
Nuclear power. Russia has full-cycle nuclear power technology from uranium ore mining to electricity generation. Today, Russia operates 10 nuclear power plants (NPPs) - a total of 33 power units with an installed capacity of 23.2 GW, which generate about 17% of all electricity produced. There are 5 more nuclear power plants under construction.
Nuclear energy has been widely developed in the European part of Russia (30%) and in the North-West (37% of total electricity generation).
Figure 2 Electricity production of Russian nuclear power plants (in billion kWh) and capacity of Russian nuclear power plants (in GW) in 1991--2010
electric power spatial alternative industry
In 2011, nuclear power plants generated a record amount of electricity in the entire history of the industry - 173 billion kWh, which was about a 1.5% increase compared to 2010. In December 2007, in accordance with the decree of Russian President V.V. Putin, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom was formed, which manages all nuclear assets of Russia, including both the civilian part of the nuclear industry and the nuclear weapons complex. It is also entrusted with the tasks of fulfilling Russia’s international obligations in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the non-proliferation regime of nuclear materials.
The operator of Russian nuclear power plants, Rosenergoatom Concern OJSC, is the second energy company in Europe in terms of nuclear generation volume. Russian nuclear power plants make a significant contribution to the fight against global warming. Thanks to their work, the emission of 210 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is prevented annually. The priority of NPP operation is safety. Since 2004, not a single serious safety violation classified on the international INES scale above the zero (minimum) level has been recorded at Russian nuclear power plants. An important task in the operation of Russian nuclear power plants is to increase the installed capacity utilization factor (IUR) of already operating plants. It is planned that as a result of the implementation of the program for increasing the capacity of Rosenergoatom Concern OJSC, calculated until 2015, an effect will be obtained equivalent to the commissioning of four new nuclear power units (equivalent to 4.5 GW of installed capacity).
Geothermal energy
One of the potential areas for the development of the electric power industry in Russia is geothermal energy. Currently, 56 thermal water deposits with a potential exceeding 300 thousand m/day have been explored in Russia. Commercial exploitation is underway at 20 fields, among them: Paratunskoye (Kamchatka), Kazminskoye and Cherkesskoye (Karachay-Cherkessia and Stavropol Territory), Kizlyarskoye and Makhachkala (Dagestan), Mostovskoye and Voznesenskoye (Krasnodar Territory). At the same time, the total electric power potential of steam-water thermal baths, which is estimated at 1 GW of operating electrical power, is realized only in the amount of slightly more than 80 MW of installed capacity. All operating Russian geothermal power plants today are located in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands.
Electric power is a key global industry that determines the technological development of mankind in the global sense of the word. This industry includes not only the entire range and variety of methods for producing (generating) electricity, but also its transportation to the end consumer represented by industry and society as a whole. The development of the electric power industry, its perfection and optimization, designed to satisfy the ever-growing demand for electricity, is a key common global task of our time and the foreseeable future.
Development of the electric power industry
Despite the fact that electricity, as a kind of energy resource, has been known to mankind for a relatively long time, its rapid start to development was faced with a serious problem - the lack of the ability to transmit electricity over long distances. It was this problem that held back the development of electric power until the end of the eighteenth century. Based on the discovery of an effective method of power transmission, technologies began to develop, the basis of which was electric current. The telegraph, electric motors, the principle of electric lighting - all this became a real breakthrough, which entailed not only the invention and constant improvement of mechanical electricity-generating machines (generators), but also entire power plants.
One of the most significant milestones in the development of the electric power industry can be called hydroelectric power plants (HPP), the operation of which is based on the so-called renewable energy sources, which take the form of pre-prepared water masses. Today, this type of power plant is one of the most efficient and proven over decades.
The domestic history of the formation and development of the electric power industry is filled with unique achievements and the brightest contrast of the pre-revolutionary and post-revolutionary periods. And if the first of the two periods is due to the insignificant volume of electricity generation and the almost complete lack of development of the electric power industry as a global industrial sector, then the second period is a real and undeniable technological breakthrough, which ensured widespread electrification in the shortest possible time, which also affected many Soviet factories and factories, and every Soviet citizen. The widespread total electrification of our country made it possible to catch up and in many industries significantly surpass many foreign countries in the development of technology, thereby forming an unrivaled industrial potential in the mid-twentieth century. Of course, the electric power industry also developed rapidly abroad, but in terms of its mass production and availability it was never able to surpass the level of the Soviet Union.
Electric power industries
Today, the electric power industry can be divided into three fundamental technological branches, each of which generates electricity in its own unique way.
Nuclear power
A high-tech and most promising branch of the electric power industry, which is based on the process of fission of atomic nuclei in reactors specially adapted for this purpose. The thermal energy generated by nuclear fission is converted into electricity.
Thermal energy
The basis of this energy sector is one or another fuel (Gas, coal, certain types of petroleum products), which, when burned, is transformed into electricity.
Hydropower
The key aspect of electricity generation in this type of energy is water, which is stored in a certain way in rivers and reservoirs (reservoirs). The stored water masses pass through electricity-generating turbines, thereby generating a significant amount of electricity.
In addition to this, we can also note the so-called alternative energy, which, for the most part, is based on environmentally friendly resources. Such resources include sunlight, wind power and geothermal sources. However, alternative energy is, first of all, a bold experiment rather than a full-fledged electric power industry that does not have the required efficiency.
Electric power industry in Russia
Russia is one of the giants of electricity generation and a leading power in the field of electricity. Advanced technologies, rich natural resources, and many fast, deep rivers have made it possible to develop and commission modern, highly efficient nuclear power plants and hydroelectric power plants. Constant development and improvement of technology has led to the formation of one of the world's largest energy networks, which includes a colossal amount of generated and consumed electrical current.
The Russian electric power industry is divided into several large energy companies, which, as a rule, operate on a territorial basis and are responsible for their strictly defined share of the industry. The country's main generation capacity lies in nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, where the latter provide about 18-20% of electricity per year.
It is important to note that existing power generating stations are constantly being modernized and new ones are commissioned. Today, the total volume of generated electricity fully covers all the needs of industry and society, allowing for a stable increase in energy exports to neighboring countries.
Electric power industry of the world
Any large state with a developed industrial sector will always be a very large producer and consumer of electricity. Consequently, the electric power industry in any of these states is a strategically important industrial sector that is constantly in need of development. Countries with a developed electric power industry include: Russia, the USA, Germany, France, Japan, China, India and some other countries where either a consistently high level of economy and industrial potential is observed, or there is active economic growth.
St. Petersburg State University
Service and Economy
Abstract on Ecology
on the topic "Electric power"
Completed by: 1st year student
Checked:
Introduction:
ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY, the leading area of energy, ensuring the electrification of the country's national economy. In economically developed countries, technical means of the electric power industry are combined into automated and centrally controlled electric power systems.
Energy is the basis for the development of production forces in any state. Energy ensures the uninterrupted operation of industry, agriculture, transport, and utilities. Stable economic development is impossible without constantly developing energy.
The electric power industry, along with other sectors of the national economy, is considered as part of a single national economic system. Currently, our life is unthinkable without electrical energy. Electric power has invaded all spheres of human activity: industry and agriculture, science and space. Without electricity, modern communications and the development of cybernetics, computers and space technology are impossible. The importance of electricity is also great in agriculture, the transport complex and in everyday life. It is impossible to imagine our life without electricity. Such wide distribution is explained by its specific properties:
the ability to transform into almost all other types of energy (thermal, mechanical, sound, light and others) with minimal losses;
the ability to be relatively easily transmitted over significant distances in large quantities;
enormous speeds of electromagnetic processes;
ability to fragment energy and form its parameters (changes in voltage, frequency).
the impossibility and, accordingly, unnecessaryness of its storage or accumulation.
Industry remains the main consumer of electricity, although its share in total useful electricity consumption is significantly reduced. Electrical energy in industry is used to drive various mechanisms and directly in technological processes. Currently, the power drive electrification rate in industry is 80%. At the same time, about 1/3 of the electricity is spent directly on technological needs. Industries that often do not use electricity directly for their technological processes are the largest consumers of electricity.
Formation and development of the electric power industry.
The formation of the Russian electric power industry is associated with the GOELRO plan (1920) for a period of 15 years, which provided for the construction of 10 hydroelectric power stations with a total capacity of 640 thousand kW. The plan was carried out ahead of schedule: by the end of 1935, 40 regional power plants had been built. Thus, the GOELRO plan created the basis for the industrialization of Russia, and it came to second place in electricity production in the world.
At the beginning of the 20th century. Coal occupied an absolutely predominant place in the structure of energy consumption. For example, in developed countries by 1950. Coal accounted for 74%, and oil accounted for 17% of total energy consumption. At the same time, the main share of energy resources was used within the countries where they were mined.
Average annual growth rates of energy consumption in the world in the first half of the 20th century. amounted to 2-3%, and in 1950-1975. - already 5%.
To cover the increase in energy consumption in the second half of the 20th century. The global structure of energy consumption is undergoing major changes. In the 50-60s. Coal is increasingly being replaced by oil and gas. In the period from 1952 to 1972. oil was cheap. The price on the world market reached $14/t. In the second half of the 70s, the development of large natural gas deposits also began and its consumption gradually increased, displacing coal.
Until the early 1970s, growth in energy consumption was mainly extensive. In developed countries, its pace was actually determined by the growth rate of industrial production. Meanwhile, developed deposits are beginning to be depleted, and imports of energy resources, primarily oil, are beginning to increase.
In 1973 An energy crisis broke out. The world oil price jumped to 250-300 dollars/t. One of the reasons for the crisis was the reduction of its production in easily accessible places and its movement to areas with extreme natural conditions and to the continental shelf. Another reason was the desire of the main oil exporting countries (OPEC members), which are mainly developing countries, to more effectively use their advantages as owners of the bulk of the world's reserves of this valuable raw material.
During this period, the leading countries of the world were forced to reconsider their concepts of energy development. As a result, forecasts for energy consumption growth have become more moderate. A significant place in energy development programs has begun to be given to energy saving. If before the energy crisis of the 70s, energy consumption in the world was predicted to be 20-25 billion tons of equivalent fuel by 2000, then after it the forecasts were adjusted towards a noticeable decrease to 12.4 billion tons of equivalent fuel.
Industrialized countries are taking serious measures to ensure savings in the consumption of primary energy resources. Energy conservation is increasingly occupying a central place in their national economic concepts. The sectoral structure of national economies is being restructured. Advantage is given to low energy-intensive industries and technologies. Energy-intensive industries are being phased out. Energy-saving technologies are actively developing, primarily in energy-intensive industries: metallurgy, metalworking industry, and transport. Large-scale scientific and technical programs are being implemented to search and develop alternative energy technologies. During the period from the early 70s to the late 80s. Energy intensity of GDP in the USA decreased by 40%, in Japan - by 30%.
During the same period, there was a rapid development of nuclear energy. In the 70s and the first half of the 80s, about 65% of currently operating nuclear power plants were put into operation in the world.
During this period, the concept of state energy security was introduced into political and economic usage. Energy strategies of developed countries are aimed not only at reducing the consumption of specific energy resources (coal or oil), but also in general at reducing the consumption of any energy resources and diversifying their sources.
As a result of all these measures, the average annual growth rate of consumption of primary energy resources in developed countries has noticeably decreased: from 1.8% in the 80s. to 1.45% in 1991-2000. According to the forecast, until 2015 it will not exceed 1.25%.
In the second half of the 80s, another factor appeared, which today has an increasing influence on the structure and development trends of the fuel and energy complex. Scientists and politicians around the world have actively started talking about the consequences of human-induced activities on nature, in particular, the impact of fuel and energy complex facilities on the environment. Tightening international requirements for environmental protection in order to reduce the greenhouse effect and emissions into the atmosphere (according to the decision of the Kyoto conference in 1997) should lead to a reduction in the consumption of coal and oil as the most environmentally impacting energy resources, as well as stimulate the improvement of existing and the creation of new energy resources. technologies.
Geography of Russian energy resources.
Energy resources on Russian territory are distributed extremely unevenly. Their main reserves are concentrated in Siberia and the Far East (about 93% of coal, 60% of natural gas, 80% of hydropower resources), and most of the electricity consumers are in the European part of the country. Let's look at this picture in more detail by region.
The Russian Federation consists of 11 economic regions. There are five regions in which a significant amount of electricity is generated: Central, Volga, Ural, Western Siberia and Eastern Siberia.
Central economic region(CER) has a fairly favorable economic position, but does not have significant resources. The reserves of fuel resources are extremely small, although the region ranks among the first in the country in terms of their consumption. It is located at the intersection of land and water roads, which contribute to the emergence and strengthening of inter-regional ties. Fuel reserves are represented by the brown coal basin near Moscow. The mining conditions there are unfavorable, and the coal is of low quality. But with changes in energy and transport tariffs, its role increased, as imported coal became too expensive. The region has quite large, but significantly depleted peat resources. Hydroelectric power reserves are small; reservoir systems have been created on the Oka, Volga and other rivers. Oil reserves have also been explored, but production is still a long way off. It can be said that the energy resources of the CER are of local importance, and the electric power industry is not a branch of its market specialization.
The structure of the electric power industry in the Central Economic Region is dominated by large thermal power plants. Konakovskaya and Kostromskaya GRES, with a capacity of 3.6 million kW each, operate mainly on fuel oil, Ryazanskaya GRES (2.8 million kW) - on coal. Also quite large are the Novomoskovskaya, Cherepetskaya, Shchekinskaya, Yaroslavskaya, Kashirskaya, Shaturskaya thermal power plants and thermal power plants of Moscow. Hydroelectric power stations in the Central Economic Region are small and few in number. In the area of the Rybinsk Reservoir, the Rybinsk Hydroelectric Power Station was built on the Volga, as well as the Uglich and Ivankovskaya Hydroelectric Power Stations. A pumped storage power plant was built near Sergiev Posad. There are two large nuclear power plants in the region: Smolensk (3 million kW) and Kalininsk (2 million kW), as well as the Obninsk NPP.
All of the above-mentioned power plants are part of a unified energy system, which does not satisfy the region’s electricity needs. The power systems of the Volga region, the Urals, and the South are now connected to the Center.
Power plants in the region are distributed fairly evenly, although most are concentrated in the center of the region. In the future, the electric power industry of the Central Energy Region will develop through the expansion of existing thermal power plants and nuclear power.
Volga Economicarea specializes in the oil and oil refining, chemical, gas, manufacturing industries, production of building materials and electric power. The structure of the economy includes an intersectoral machine-building complex.
The most important mineral resources of the area are oil and gas. Large oil fields are located in Tatarstan (Romashkinskoye, Pervomaiskoye, Elabuga, etc.), in Samara (Mukhanovskoye), Saratov and Volgograd regions. Natural gas resources have been discovered in the Astrakhan region (a gas industrial complex is being formed), in the Saratov (Kurdyumo-Elshanskoye and Stepanovskoye fields) and Volgograd (Zhirnovskoye, Korobovskoye and other fields) regions.
The structure of the electric power industry includes the large Zainskaya State District Power Plant (2.4 million kW), located in the north of the region and operating on fuel oil and coal, as well as a number of large thermal power plants. Separate smaller thermal power plants serve populated areas and industry in them. Two nuclear power plants were built in the region: Balakovo (3 million kW) and Dimitrovgrad NPP. The Samara Hydroelectric Power Station (2.3 million kW), the Saratov Hydroelectric Power Station (1.3 million kW), and the Volgograd Hydroelectric Power Station (2.5 million kW) were built on the Volga. The Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric power station (1.1 million kW) was built on the Kama near the city of Naberezhnye Chelny. Hydroelectric power plants operate in an integrated system.
The energy sector of the Volga region is of interregional importance. Electricity is transmitted to the Urals, Donbass and Center.
A special feature of the Volga economic region is that most of the industry is concentrated along the banks of the Volga, an important transport artery. And this explains the concentration of power plants near the Volga and Kama rivers.
Ural– one of the most powerful industrial complexes in the country. The areas of market specialization in the region are ferrous metallurgy, non-ferrous metallurgy, manufacturing, forestry and mechanical engineering.
The fuel resources of the Urals are very diverse: coal, oil, natural gas, oil shale, peat. Oil is mainly concentrated in Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, Perm and Orenburg regions. Natural gas is produced in the Orenburg gas condensate field, the largest in the European part of Russia. Coal reserves are small.
In the Ural economic region, thermal power plants predominate in the structure of the electric power industry. There are three large state district power plants in the region: Reftinskaya (3.8 million kW), Troitskaya (2.4 million kW) operate on coal, Iriklinskaya (2.4 million kW) operate on fuel oil. Individual cities are served by Perm, Magnitogorsk, Orenburg thermal power plants, Yaivinskaya, Yuzhnouralskaya and Karmanovskaya thermal power plants. Hydroelectric power stations were built on the Ufa (Pavlovskaya HPP) and Kama rivers (Kamskaya and Votkinskaya HPPs). In the Urals there is a nuclear power plant - Beloyarsk NPP (0.6 million kW) near the city of Yekaterinburg. The greatest concentration of power plants is in the center of the economic region.
Western Siberia refers to areas with a high supply of natural resources and a shortage of labor resources. It is located at the crossroads of railways and great Siberian rivers in close proximity to the industrialized Urals.
In the region, industries of specialization include fuel, mining, chemical, electric power and construction materials production.
In Western Siberia, the leading role belongs to thermal power plants. Surgutskaya GRES (3.1 million kW) is located in the center of the region. The main part of power plants is concentrated in the south: in Kuzbass and adjacent areas. There are power plants serving Tomsk, Biysk, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, as well as Omsk, Tobolsk and Tyumen. A hydroelectric power station was built on the Ob River near Novosibirsk. There are no nuclear power plants in the area.
On the territory of the Tyumen and Tomsk regions, the largest program-targeted TPK in Russia is being formed based on the unique reserves of oil and natural gas in the northern and middle parts of the West Siberian Plain and significant forest resources.
Eastern Siberia is distinguished by its exceptional wealth and diversity of natural resources. Huge reserves of coal and hydropower resources are concentrated here. The most studied and developed are the Kansk-Achinsk, Irkutsk and Minusinsk coal basins. There are less studied deposits (in the territory of Tyva, the Tunguska coal basin). There are oil reserves. In terms of the wealth of hydropower resources, Eastern Siberia ranks first in Russia. The high flow speed of the Yenisei and Angara creates favorable conditions for the construction of power plants.
The sectors of market specialization in Eastern Siberia include electric power, non-ferrous metallurgy, mining and fuel industries.
The most important area of market specialization is the electric power industry. Until relatively recently, this industry was poorly developed and hampered the development of industry in the region. Over the past 30 years, a powerful electric power industry has been created based on cheap coal and hydropower resources, and the region has taken the leading place in the country in electricity production per capita.
The Ust-Khantayskaya HPP, Kureyskaya HPP, Mainskaya HPP, Krasnoyarsk HPP (6 million kW) and Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP (6.4 million kW) were built on the Yenisei. Of great importance are the hydraulic power plants built on the Angara: Ust-Ilimsk hydroelectric power station (4.3 million kW), Bratsk hydroelectric power station (4.5 million kW) and Irkutsk hydroelectric power station (600 thousand kW). The Boguchanovskaya hydroelectric power station is being built. The Mamakan hydroelectric power station on the Vitim River and the Vilyui hydroelectric power station cascade were also built.
The powerful Nazarovskaya State District Power Plant (6 million kW), powered by coal, was built in the region; Berezovskaya (design capacity - 6.4 million kW), Chitinskaya and Irsha-Borodinskaya state district power plants; Norilsk and Irkutsk thermal power plants. Also, thermal power plants were built to serve cities such as Krasnoyarsk, Angarsk, and Ulan-Ude. There are no nuclear power plants in the area.
The power plants are part of the unified energy system of Central Siberia. The electric power industry in Eastern Siberia creates particularly favorable conditions for the development of energy-intensive industries in the region: light metal metallurgy and a number of chemical industries.
Unified Energy System of Russia.
For a more rational, comprehensive and economical use of Russia's overall potential, the Unified Energy System (UES) was created. It operates over 700 large power plants with a total capacity of more than 250 million kW (84% of the capacity of all power plants in the country). The UES is managed from a single center.
The unified energy system has a number of obvious economic advantages. Powerful power lines (power lines) significantly increase the reliability of the national economy's supply of electricity. They align annual and daily electricity consumption schedules, improve the economic performance of power plants and create conditions for the complete electrification of areas where there is a lack of electricity.
The UES of the former USSR included power plants that extended their influence over an area of over 10 million km 2 with a population of about 220 million people.
The United Energy Systems (IES) of the Center, the Volga region, the Urals, the North-West, and the North Caucasus are included in the UES of the European part. They are united by high-voltage main lines Samara - Moscow (500 kW), Moscow - St. Petersburg (750 kW), Volgograd - Moscow (500 kW), Samara - Chelyabinsk, etc.
There are numerous thermal power plants (CPS and CHP) using coal (Moscow region, Ural, etc.), shale, peat, natural gas and fuel oil, and nuclear power plants. Hydroelectric power stations are of great importance, covering peak loads of large industrial areas and hubs.
Russia exports electricity to Belarus and Ukraine, from where it goes to Eastern European countries and Kazakhstan.
Conclusion
RAO UES of Russia, as a leader in the industry among the former republics of the USSR, managed to synchronize the power systems of 14 CIS and Baltic countries, including five member states of the EurAsEC, and thereby reached the finish line of forming a single electricity market. In 1998, only seven of them operated in parallel mode.
The mutual benefits our countries receive from the parallel operation of energy systems are obvious. The reliability of energy supply to consumers has increased (in light of recent accidents in the United States and Western European countries, this is of great importance), and the amount of reserve capacity required by each country in case of energy failures has decreased. Finally, conditions have been created for mutually beneficial export and import of electricity. Thus, RAO UES of Russia already imports cheap Tajik and Kyrgyz electricity through Kazakhstan. These supplies are extremely important for the energy-deficient regions of Siberia and the Urals; they also make it possible to “dilute” the Federal Wholesale Electricity Market, restraining the growth of tariffs within Russia. On the other hand, RAO UES of Russia simultaneously exports electricity to those countries where tariffs are several times higher than the Russian average, for example, to Georgia, Belarus, and Finland. By 2007, synchronization of the power systems of Russia and the European Union is expected, opening up enormous prospects for the export of electricity from the EurAsEC member countries to Europe
List of used literature:
Monthly production and mass magazine "Energetik" 2001. No. 1.
Morozova T. G. “Regional Studies”, M.: “Unity”, 1998
Rodionova I.A., Bunakova T.M. "Economic Geography", M.: 1998.
Fuel and energy complex is the most important structure of the Russian economy./Industry of Russia. 1999 No. 3
Yanovsky A.B. Energy strategy of Russia until 2020, M., 2001.
The industry of any country consists of a large number of diverse sectors, such as mechanical engineering or electrical power. These are the directions in which a particular country is developing, and different countries may have different emphases depending on many factors, such as natural resources, technological development and so on. In this article we will talk about one very important and actively developing industry today - the electric power industry. Electric power is an industry that has been constantly evolving for many years, but it is in recent years that it has begun to actively move forward, pushing humanity to use more environmentally friendly energy sources.
What it is?
So, first of all, you need to understand what this industry actually is. Electric power industry is a division of the energy sector that is responsible for the production, distribution, transmission and sale of electrical energy. Among other industries in this field, the electric power industry is the most popular and widespread for a number of reasons. For example, due to the ease of its distribution, the ability to transmit it over vast distances in the shortest periods of time, and also because of its versatility, electrical energy can be easily transformed, if necessary, into others such as heat, light, chemical energy, and so on. Thus, the governments of world powers pay great attention to the development of this industry. Electric power is the industry that holds the future. This is exactly what many people think, and that is why you need to familiarize yourself with it in more detail using this article.
Progress in Electricity Generation
To fully understand how important this industry is to the world, it is necessary to take a look at how the electric power industry has developed throughout its history. It is immediately worth noting that electricity production is indicated in billions of kilowatts per hour. In 1890, when the electric power industry was just beginning to develop, only nine billion kWh were produced. A big leap occurred by 1950, when more than a hundred times more electricity was produced. From that moment on, development took giant strides - every decade several thousand billion kW/h were added at once. As a result, by 2013, world powers produced a total of 23,127 billion kWh - an incredible figure that continues to grow every year. Today, China and the United States of America provide the most electricity - these are the two countries that have the most developed electricity sectors. China accounts for 23 percent of the world's electricity, while the United States accounts for 18 percent. They are followed by Japan, Russia and India - each of these countries has at least four times less share in global electricity production. Well, now you also know the general geography of the electric power industry - it’s time to move on to specific types of this industry.
Thermal power engineering
You already know that the electric power industry is a branch of the energy sector, and the energy industry itself, in turn, is a branch of industry as a whole. However, the ramifications do not end there - there are several types of electric power, some of them are very common and are used everywhere, others are not so popular. There are also alternative areas of the electric power industry, where non-traditional methods are used to achieve large-scale electricity production without harming the environment, as well as neutralizing all the negative features of traditional methods. But first things first.
First of all, it is necessary to talk about thermal power engineering, since it is the most widespread and well-known all over the world. How is electricity generated in this way? You can easily guess that in this case, thermal energy is converted into electrical energy, and thermal energy is obtained by burning various types of fuel. Combined heat and power plants can be found in almost every country - this is the simplest and most convenient process for obtaining large volumes of energy at low costs. However, this process is one of the most harmful to the environment. Firstly, natural fuel is used to generate electricity, which is guaranteed to run out someday. Secondly, combustion products are released into the atmosphere, poisoning it. That is why there are alternative methods of generating electricity. However, these are not all traditional types of electric power - there are others, and we will further concentrate on them.
Nuclear power
As in the previous case, when considering nuclear power, a lot can be gleaned from the name alone. Electricity generation in this case is carried out in nuclear reactors, where atoms are split and their nuclei fission - as a result of these actions, a large release of energy occurs, which is then transformed into electricity. It’s unlikely that anyone else knows that this is the most unsafe electric power industry. Not every country's industry has its share in the global production of nuclear electricity. Any leak from such a reactor can lead to catastrophic consequences - just remember Chernobyl, as well as the incidents in Japan. However, recently more and more attention has been paid to safety, which is why nuclear power plants are being built further.
Hydropower
Another popular way to produce electricity is to obtain it from water. This process takes place at hydroelectric power stations; it does not require either dangerous nuclear fission processes or environmentally harmful combustion of fuel, but it also has its disadvantages. Firstly, this is a violation of the natural flow of rivers - dams are built on them, due to which the necessary flow of water is created into the turbines, which is how energy is obtained. Often, due to the construction of dams, rivers, lakes and other natural reservoirs are drained and destroyed, so it cannot be said that this is an ideal option for this energy sector. Accordingly, many electric power enterprises are turning not to traditional, but to alternative types of electricity generation.
Alternative power engineering
Alternative electrical energy is a collection of types of electrical energy that differ from traditional ones mainly in that they do not require one or another type of harm to the environment, and also do not expose anyone to danger. We are talking about hydrogen, tidal, wave and many other varieties. The most common of them are wind and solar energy. It is on them that the emphasis is placed - many believe that the future of this industry lies with them. What is the essence of these types?
Wind energy is the production of electricity from wind. Windmills are built in the fields, which work very efficiently and provide energy not much worse than the previously described methods, but at the same time, windmills only need wind to operate. Naturally, the disadvantage of this method is that the wind is a natural element that cannot be controlled, but scientists are working to improve the functionality of modern windmills. As for solar energy, here electricity is obtained from the sun's rays. As in the case of the previous type, it is also necessary to work on increasing the storage capacity, since the sun does not always shine - and even if the weather is cloudless, in any case, at a certain moment night comes when the solar panels are not able to produce electricity.
Electricity transmission
Well, now you know all the main types of electricity generation, however, as you can already understand from the definition of the term electric power industry, everything is not limited to receiving it. Energy needs to be transmitted and distributed. So, it is transmitted through power lines. These are metal conductors that create one large electrical network throughout the world. Previously, overhead lines were most often used - these are the ones you can see along the roads, thrown from one pillar to another. However, recently cable lines that are laid underground have become very popular.
History of the development of the Russian electric power industry
Russia's electric power industry began to develop at the same time as the world's - in 1891, when for the first time the transmission of electrical power over almost two hundred kilometers was successfully carried out. In the realities of pre-revolutionary Russia, the electric power industry was incredibly underdeveloped - the annual electricity production for such a huge country was only 1.9 billion kW/h. When the revolution took place, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin proposed the implementation of which began immediately. Already by 1931, the planned plan was fulfilled, but the speed of development turned out to be so impressive that by 1935 the plan was exceeded three times. Thanks to this reform, by 1940 the annual electricity generation in Russia amounted to 50 billion kWh, which is twenty-five times more than before the revolution. Unfortunately, dramatic progress was interrupted by World War II, but after its conclusion, work recovered, and by 1950, the Soviet Union was generating 90 billion kWh, which accounted for about ten percent of total electricity generation worldwide. By the mid-sixties, the Soviet Union had reached second place in the world in electricity production and was second only to the United States. The situation remained at the same high level until the collapse of the USSR, when the electric power industry was far from the only industry that suffered greatly due to this event. In 2003, a new Federal Law on the electric power industry was signed, within the framework of which the rapid development of this industry in Russia should take place in the coming decades. And the country is definitely moving in that direction. However, it is one thing to sign a federal law on the electric power industry, and completely different to implement it. This is exactly what will be discussed further. You will learn about what problems exist in the Russian electric power industry today, as well as what ways will be chosen to solve them.
Excess electricity generating capacity
Russia's electric power industry is already in much better shape than it was ten years ago, so we can safely say that progress is being made. However, at a recent energy forum, the main problems of this industry in the country were identified. And the first of them is an excess of electricity generating capacity, which was caused by the massive construction of low-power power plants in the USSR instead of the construction of a small number of high-power power plants. All these stations still need to be serviced, so there are two ways out of the situation. The first is the decommissioning of facilities. This option would be ideal if it were not for the enormous costs of such a project. Therefore, Russia will most likely move towards the second option, namely increasing consumption.
Import substitution
After the introduction of Western stations, the Russian industry very acutely felt its dependence on foreign supplies - this also greatly affected the electric power industry, where in almost none of the modern fields of activity the complete production process of certain generators took place exclusively on the territory of the Russian Federation. Accordingly, the government plans to increase production capacity in the necessary areas, control their localization, and also try to get rid of dependence on imports as much as possible.
Fresh air
The problem is that modern Russian companies operating in the electricity sector pollute the air a lot. However, the Ministry of Ecology of the Russian Federation has tightened the legislation and began to collect fines for violation of established standards more often. Unfortunately, companies suffering from this do not plan to try to optimize their production - they are throwing all their efforts into overwhelming the “green” ones with numbers and demanding a relaxation of legislation.
Billions of debt
Today, the total debt of electricity users throughout Russia is about 460 billion Russian rubles. Naturally, if the country had at its disposal all the money that was owed to it, it could develop the electric power industry much faster. Therefore, the government plans to tighten penalties for late payment of electricity bills, and will also encourage those who do not want to pay bills in the future to install their own solar panels and supply their own energy.
Regulated market
The most important problem of the domestic electric power industry is the full regulation of the market. In European countries, regulation of the energy market is almost completely absent; there is real competition there, so the industry is developing at a tremendous pace. All these rules and regulations greatly hinder development, and as a result, the Russian Federation has already begun purchasing electricity from Finland, where the market is practically unregulated. The only solution to this problem is a transition to a free market model and a complete abandonment of regulation.