Tenders for renewable energy sources (RES) in Russia have been proposed to be held together with electricity storage systems. This will increase the flexibility of the energy system, reduce the need for new generation, and allow for more efficient use of existing capacities, the Ministry of Energy reported.
In the energy system of the Russian South, 350 megawatts (MW) of storage facilities were commissioned in seven months. In August, they saved about 100 million rubles and reduced restrictions on energy supply to consumers during scheduled repairs and modernization of energy facilities. In the Far East, the government has already decided to build storage facilities with a total capacity of 250 MW. In total, Russia plans to commission 6.2 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy-based generation.
RES — solar and wind — operate unevenly. Without storage, their capacity has to be duplicated by traditional power plants, which increases the cost per kilowatt. Integrating storage into tenders will force investors to build buffers, rather than just chasing megawatts.