Energy in Russia

Major existing and planned natural gas pipelines supplying Russian gas to Europe

Russian natural gas as a % of domestic consumption

Major recipients of Russian natural gas exports in 2007

Countries by natural gas proven reserves (2014), based on data from The World Factbook. Russia has the world's largest reserves.

Russia has identified the gas sector as being of key strategic importance. The share of natural gas as a primary energy source is remarkably high compared to the rest of world. Russia has the world biggest natural gas reserves, mainly owned and operated by the Russian monopoly Gazprom, which produces 94% of Russia's natural gas production. In global context Gazprom holds 25% of the world's known gas reserves and produces 16% of global output.[7] In 2011, Russia was the world's biggest natural gas producer with 677 billion cubic metres (23.9 trillion cubic feet) which accounted 20.0% of global natural gas production. It is also the biggest gas exporter with 196 billion cubic metres (6.9 trillion cubic feet).[8] The main export markets of Russian natural gas are the European Union and the CIS. Russia supplies a quarter of the EU gas consumption, mainly via transit through Ukraine (Soyuz, Brotherhood) and Belarus (Yamal-Europe pipeline). The main importers are Germany (where links were developed as a result of Germany's Ostpolitik during the 1970s,[9] and also Ukraine, Belarus, Italy, Turkey, France and Hungary.

Russia is the largest oil producer in the non-OPEC countries, and second biggest in the world after Saudi Arabia,[10] which it overtakes as the world's number one from time to time.[11] In 2006, Russia contributed 12.1% of global oil production and 11.6% of global oil exports.[12] In June 2006, Russian crude oil and condensate production reached the post-Soviet maximum of 9.7 million barrels (1,540,000 m³) per day, exceeding production in 2000 by 3.2 Mbbl/d (510,000 m³/d). Russian export consists more than 5 Mbbl/d (790,000 m³/d) of oil and nearly 2 Mbbl/d (320,000 m³/d) of refined products, which go mainly to the European market. The domestic demand in 2005 was 2.6 Mbbl/d (410,000 m³/d) on average.[13] Russia is also the main transit country for oil from Kazakhstan.

The biggest Russian oil company is Rosneft followed by Lukoil, TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz, Gazprom Neft and Tatneft.[14][15] All oil trunk pipelines (except the Caspian Pipeline Consortium) are owned and operated by the state-owned monopoly Transneft; oil products pipelines are owned and operated by its subsidiary Transnefteproduct. Currently, Transneft is constructing the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline that would bring Russian oil to the Asian-Pacific markets (China, Japan, Korea).

Russia owns the biggest oil shale reserves in Europe equal to 35.47 billion tonnes of shale oil. More than 80 oil shale deposits have been identified. Main deposits are located in the Volga-Petchyorsk province and the Baltic Basin. Extraction of the deposits in the Volga-Petchyorsk province began in the 1930s, but was abandoned due to environmental problems. Main oil shale industry was concentrated on the Baltic Basin in Slantsy, but at the end of the 1990s the Slantsy oil shale processing plant and oil shale-fired power station were converted to use traditional hydrocarbons and mining activities ceased before 2005. In Syzran a small processing plant continues to operate.[16]

Small extra-heavy oil reserves have been identified in the Volga-Urals and North Caucasus-Mangyshlak basins. Large deposits of natural bitumen are located in Eastern Siberia in the Lena-Tunguska basin. Other bitumen deposits are located in the Timan-Pechora and Volga-Urals Basins, and in Tatarstan.[17] In September 2007, Tatneft and Royal Dutch Shell announced a strategic partnership to develop heavy crude oil production in Tatarstan, where Tatneft already has pilot production of bitumen.[18]

Global coal reserves in BTUs at end 2009

Russia has the world's second largest coal reserves, with 157 billion tonnes of reserves.

Russian coal reserves are widely dispersed. The principal hard coal deposits are located in the Pechora and Kuznetsk basins. The Kansk-Achinsk basin contains huge deposits of brown coal. The Siberian Lena and Tunguska basins are largely unexplored resources, which would probably be difficult to exploit commercially.[19]

Hydropower accounts for about 21% of Russia's total electric power production. Russia now has 102 hydropower plants in operation, with aggregate installed capacity of over 35 GW. Russia's RusHydro is the world's second-largest hydroelectric power producer.[20]

Gross theoretical potential of the Russian hydro resource base is 2,295 TWh per year, of which 852 TWh is regarded as economically feasible. Most of this potential is located in Siberia and the Far East.[21] Hydro generation (including pumped-storage output) in 2005 was 175 TWh, which represents 5.8% of world hydroelectricity generation. Russia ranks as the fifth largest hydroelectricity producer in the world.[22] At the end of 2005 installed hydroelectric generating capacity was 45.7 GW.[21]

In 2005 nuclear energy supply in Russia amounted to 149 TWh, which is 15.7% of total Russian electricity output and 5.4% of global nuclear energy production.[23] The total installed capacity of nuclear reactors is 21,244MW. There are plans to increase the number of commercial reactors from thirty one to fifty nine.

From 2001 all Russian civil reactors were operated by Energoatom. On 19 January 2007 Russian Parliament adopted legislation which created Atomenergoprom - a holding company for all Russian civil nuclear industry, including Energoatom, the nuclear fuel producer and supplier TVEL, the uranium trader Tekhsnabexport (Tenex) and nuclear facilities constructor Atomstroyexport.

Uranium exploration and development activities have been largely concentrated on three east-of-Urals uranium districts (Transural, West Siberia and Vitim). The most important uranium-producing area has been the Streltsovsky region near Krasnokamensk in the Chita Oblast. In 2005, the Russian Federation was the world's fourth largest producer of uranium, accounting for 8.2% of global output.[24]

Low prices for energy and in particular subsidies for natural gas hinder renewable energy development in Russia.[25] Russia lags behind other countries in creating a conducive framework for renewable energy development.[26] Non-hydroelectric renewable energy in Russia is largely undeveloped although Russia has many potential renewable energy resources.

Geothermal energy, which is used for heating and electricity production in some regions of the Northern Caucasus and the Far East, is the most developed renewable energy source in Russia.[27] Geothermal resources have been identified in the Northern Caucasus, Western Siberia, Lake Baikal, and in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. In 1966 a 4 MWe single-flash plant was commissioned at Pauzhetka (currently 11 MWe) followed by a 12 MWe geothermal power plant at Verkhne Mutnovsky, and 50 MWe Mutnovsky geothermal power plant. At the end of 2005 installed capacity for direct use amounted to more than 307 MWt.[28]

Principal peat deposits are located in the north-western parts of Russia, in West Siberia, near the western coast of Kamchatka and in several other far-eastern regions. The Siberian peatlands account for nearly 75% of Russia's total reserves of 186 billion tonnes, second only to Canada's. Approximately 5% of exploitable peat (1.5 million tonnes per annum) is used for fuel production. Although peat was used as industrial fuel for power generation in Russia for a long period, its share has been in long-term decline, and since 1980 has amounted to less than 1%.[29]

It has been estimated that Russia's gross potential for solar energy is 2.3 trillion tce. The regions with the best solar radiation potential are the North Caucasus, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea areas, and southern parts of Siberia and the Far East. This potential is largely unused, although the possibilities for off-grid solar energy or hybrid applications in remote areas are huge. However, the construction of a single solar power plant Kislovodskaya SPP (1.5 MW) has been delayed.[30]

Russia has high quality wind resources on the Pacific and Arctic coasts and in vast steppe and mountain areas. Large-scale wind energy systems are suitable in Siberia and the Far East (east of Sakhalin Island, the south of Kamchatka, the Chukotka Peninsula, Vladivostok), the steppes along the Volga river, the northern Caucasus steppes and mountains and on the Kola Peninsula, where power infrastructure and major industrial consumers are in place. At the end of 2006, total installed wind capacity was 15 MW. Major wind power stations operate at Kalmytskaya (2 MW), Zapolyarnaya (1.5 MW), Kulikovskaya (5.1 MW), Tyupkildi (2.2 MW) and Observation Cape (2.5 MW). Feasibility studies are being carried out on the Kaliningradskaya (50 MW) and the Leningradskaya (75 MW) wind farms. There are about 100 MW of wind projects in Kalmykia and in Krasnodar Krai.[31]

A small pilot tidal power plant with a capacity of 400 kW was constructed at Kislaya Guba near Murmansk in 1968. In 2007, Gidro OGK, a subsidiary of the Unified Energy System (UES) began the installation of a 1.5 MW experimental orthogonal turbine at Kislaya Guba. If it proves successful, UES plans to continue with Mezen Bay (15,000 MW) and Tugur Bay (7,980 MW) projects.[32]