Export and import of electricity in Russia

2023

Since 2020, Abkhazia has received electricity worth ₽10 billion free of charge

From 2020 to October 2024, Russia supplied electricity worth ₽10,1 billion of the total supply of ₽11 billion to Abkhazia free of charge, Acting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Abkhazia Kristina Ozgan said on December 13, 2024.

According to TASS, the total volume of electricity supplied amounted to 2.9 billion kWh, a significant part of which was provided in 2021 during the repair of the IngurHPP derivation tunnel.

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Freepik

Acting Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Transport Jansukh Nanba noted that the republic buys a night flow of electricity from Russia for ₽8 million, while the daily cost would be about ₽30 million.

About ₽6 billion is required to bring distribution power grids to the working state of Abkhazia. At the moment, technical losses in the power grid reach 30% due to the emergency condition.

The republic needs about ₽10 billion to restore three non-operating hydroelectric power plants. After repair, they would be able to generate 350 million kWh per year, which would cover half of the existing deficit of 700 million kWh.

The collection of payments for electricity in 2024 amounted to 47%, an increase of 10% compared to 2023 due to the installation of modern metering devices and tightening payment control. More than 25 thousand electronic meters have been installed in the republic at the expense of budget funds.

From November 1, 2024, restrictions on the supply of electricity were introduced in Abkhazia due to the low water level at the IngurHPP dam. Despite the purchase of electricity in Russia, their volume is insufficient to fully cover the needs of the republic.

In the long term, the issue of gasification of the republic and the construction of thermal plants is being considered, however, the implementation of this capital-intensive project will require significant time and resources.^[1][2]

Decrease in electricity exports to 10.7 billion kWh

The volume of Russian electricity exports in 2023 amounted to 10.7 billion kilowatt-hours against 13.6 billion kilowatt-hours a year earlier. Such figures at the end of January 2024 were cited by Alexander Panin, a member of the board of Inter RAO.

According to her, despite the 21.3% decrease in electricity exports from the Russian Federation, the figures turned out to be "good."

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Pexels

In the past [2023], until May of the month inclusive, we still had deliveries to countries European Union... Roughly speaking, we got record volumes of supplies if we excluded the supply to the EU countries for all the years of our supply, "Panina explained.

According to her, in 2023 Russia supplied a record amount of electricity to Kazakhstan (4.7 billion kWh) and Mongolia (0.9 billion kWh). Deliveries were also carried out to Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Panina added that the company deployed electricity exports to the east, doubling sales in this direction by 2022 and exceeded its own plan for 2023.

Kommersant"" notes that a significant decrease in electricity exports in 2023 is primarily due to the complete cessation of its supplies to the European Union. Russia supplied electricity to,, and Lithuania Latvia Estonia until Finland May 2022. According to the publication, in January - May 2022, Russia managed to sell up to 5 billion kWh in the EU.

Power expert Kirill Rodionov, commenting on the figures of Inter RAO, noted that the export of Russian electricity to Kazakhstan and Mongolia is associated with an increase in its consumption. He noted that Kazakhstan is going to build the first nuclear power plant in the country to hedge the risks of energy shortages. It is planned that the nuclear power plant will be located in the Alma-Ata region. But its commissioning will not take place until 2034, the expert added.^[3]

Electricity supplies from Russia to China decreased by 34% to 3.1 billion kWh

Electricity supplies from Russia to China in 2023 decreased by 34% compared to 2022 - to 3.1 billion kWh. Such data in mid-January 2024 were cited by Kommersant, citing its own calculations.

Inter RAO announced to the publication the volume of electricity sent to the PRC, which turned out to be at the average annual level of 2012-2020. Since 2022, the Russian company has stopped publishing accurate export data. During the specified period, it amounted to approximately 3 billion kWh, the publication says.

Electricity supplies from Russia to China for 2023 decreased by 34%

Since August 2023, electricity exports to China have shown a drop: that month - by 49.8% year-on-year, in September - by 47%, in October - by 72%, in November - by 61%. The reasons are an increase in domestic consumption in the Far East, accidents at TPPs and low water consumption of hydroelectric power plants.

In December and January 2023, export deliveries were carried out only through two 110-220 kV transmission lines with a capacity of up to 115 MW. The volume of exports decreased by almost 80% compared to the same period in 2022, amounting to 82.6 million kVt∙ch in December 2023.

The Ministry of Energy noted that electricity supplies to China are carried out within the framework of the capabilities of the combined energy system of the East.

Supply volumes and schedules are governed by commercial contracts. In December - January, exports were provided in accordance with the regime and balance sheet capabilities that had formed at that time in the power system of the Far East, the department told the publication.

According to several sources of the newspaper, electricity supplies from Russia to China decreased, including due to protracted emergency and planned repairs at generation facilities in the Far East. At the same time, in the current heating season, regulators predicted an increase in electricity consumption in the region by 4.7% at once, according to a publication dated January 15, 2024.^[4]

2021: Export growth 2.7 times, to $1.33 billion

In 2021, Russia earned $1.33 billion in electricity exports, which is 2.7 times more than a year earlier. Such data were published on February 7, 2022 by the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia.

In 2021, Russia imported electricity in the amount of $25.4 million, which is 12.4% more than in 2020. In physical terms, the volume of imports increased by 13.5%, to 1.56 billion kWh.

The volume of electricity exports from Russia in 2021 amounted to 22.9 billion kWh, which is 1.9 times more than a year ago.

Russia in 2021 increased electricity exports by 2.7 times

At the end of 2021, electricity exports from Russia increased 2.2 times compared to the same period last year and reached 25 billion kWh. This was reported by TASS in January 2021 with reference to the materials of the Central Dispatch Department of the Fuel and Energy Complex.

In December, export electricity supplies increased 1.8 times to 2.7 billion kWh. Russia imported 1.9 billion kWh of electricity in 2021, 0.3 billion kWh in December.

Electricity production in Russia increased by 6.4% over the year, to 1.131 trillion kWh. Energy consumption increased by 5.4%, to 1.106 trillion kWh.

Inter RAO is the only operator of electricity exports and imports in the country, a diversified energy holding manages assets in Russia, as well as in Europe and the CIS. The total installed capacity of the company's power plants by the end of 2021 was 30.7 GW. The company in 2021, after a long break, returned to the Georgian market, and in transit through this country carried out electricity supplies to Armenia and Turkey. Deliveries to China have reached an all-time high. In addition, for the first time in a long time, Kazakhstan applied for commercial supplies.

Inter RAO CEO Boris Kovalchuk, during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at the end of December 2021, said that in 2021 Russia doubled its electricity exports and updated its historical maximum, and the margin yield on exports more than quadrupled and also turned out to be a record.^[5]

2020: Decrease in the volume of electricity exports from the Russian Federation by 39.6%, to 12.11 billion kWh - FCS

According to the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia, the volume of electricity exports from the country at the end of 2020 decreased by 39.6% compared to 2019 and amounted to 12.11 billion kWh. Export revenues during this time decreased in annual terms by 46.4%, to $488.7 million.

In December 2020, electricity exports increased by 54.1% compared to November, to 1.45 billion kWh. Export revenues for the reporting month amounted to $62 million (+ 40.6% on a monthly basis).

The export-import operator from the Russian Federation is PJSC Inter RAO. The company has not previously ruled out a 50% decrease in supplies abroad in 2020 amid an abnormally warm winter and the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Electricity exports from Russia in 2020 decreased by 40%

According to the FCS, the volume of electricity imports to Russia at the end of 2020 amounted to almost 1.378 billion kWh (by $22.6 million), which is 14.9% less than in 2019. In December, deliveries from abroad amounted to 163 million kWh, which is 24% more than the volume of November deliveries.

Russia exports electricity to countries such as, Finland,, Lithuania,, China,,,,,,,,, Kazakhstan Mongolia Georgia Ukraine Azerbaijan Belarus as well as Norway South Ossetia. Most of the supply of Russian electricity falls on Finland, but in 2020 there was a significant decline in exports to this country.

The deepest decline was in supplies to Finland. Despite the fact that since the beginning of the year there has been a negative impact of many factors on our deliveries to Finland, the results of the first quarter of 2020 were mitigated by contracts concluded in 2019 with a hedging price, - said Alexandra Panina, member of the board of Inter RAO.

According to her, in the second quarter of 2020, prices were so low that whole months of delivery in Finland was unattractive. By the end of the year, it had improved somewhat, but still remained quite tense, she added.

The leaders in the export of electricity among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which account for about 98% of the total Russian exports of these products, in 2020 were the Krasnodar Territory, the city of Moscow and the Amur Region.^[6]

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