Price according to the “alternative boiler house” method. What is an “alternative boiler house” and what does Rubtsovsk have to do with it? Modular boiler rooms as an alternative to network repairs

The Altai single-industry town will become the first municipality in Russia, which in 2019 will switch to a new model of the thermal energy market, the so-called “alternative boiler house”. What is it? And why will this city be the pioneer?

Last week, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed decree No. 1937-r, which included the city of Rubtsovsk (more than 140 thousand population) in the Altai Territory in the heat supply price zone. In 2019, this municipality will be the first in the country to switch to a new method of tariff regulation - the so-called “alternative boiler house” model. To achieve this, the city’s heat supply scheme still needs to be updated. And also sign an agreement on its implementation with a single heat supply organization (ETO) - Rubtsovsky Heat and Power Complex JSC, an enterprise of the Siberian Generating Company (SGK).

“The agreement establishes the obligations of the heat energy supplier to carry out measures for the construction, reconstruction and modernization of thermal infrastructure facilities, as well as responsibility for their violation. The agreement will also fix the maximum price level for thermal energy for consumers,” the Russian Ministry of Energy said in a statement.

Mikhail Kuznetsov

General Director of SGC

The order signed by Medvedev coincided with the beginning of the new heating season: on September 17, SGK began filling 271.5 km of main and intra-block heating networks in Rubtsovsk. According to the director of Rubtsovsky Heat and Power Complex JSC, Maxim Novov, the enterprise has already formed the necessary fuel reserves: about 40 thousand tons of coal and 2 thousand tons of fuel oil. “Based on the information provided by the company management and the city leadership, I can calmly say that everything will be fine in Rubtsovsk this heating season,” the head of the company said in early September during a trip to the city. Altai Territory Victor Tomenko.

“Saving” Rubtsovsk from a communal disaster cost SGK 2 billion rubles. The “alternative boiler house” model will allow the company to return its investment within 12 years. But the new mechanism of tariff regulation is suitable not only for municipalities that are, as they say, “to the point.” "Alternative boiler room" - universal model, which is also suitable for cities, where for now everything may even look quite good. The important thing is that there it will be possible not to “put out fires”, but to calmly and systematically modernize the infrastructure. Without waiting for the happy times to end and painful decisions to be made to get out of the crisis... “Now the heads of Russian municipalities have received an effective tool for attracting investment in the industry. We hope they will study the experience of Rubtsovsk and make the right decisions about the possibility of applying a new method of tariff regulation in their cities, without waiting for negative consequences to occur,” Ekaterina Kosogova is sure.

So what is an “alt boiler room”?

The inclusion of Rubtsovsk in the heat supply price zone became possible after the new heat market model was enshrined in the law - it is spelled out in changes to Federal Law No. 190 “On Heat Supply”, approved on July 29, 2017 by President Vladimir Putin. Energy companies have been waiting for these amendments. The production and distribution of heat, unlike electricity, in our country is still fully regulated by the state. There is a market for kilowatts in the country, albeit often criticized; but generators often earn nothing at all from gigacalories. And they bear a social burden (after all, cities cannot be “frozen”), covering losses from heat generation with income from the sale of electricity. “This is a product that is produced not to heat houses, but to keep light bulbs on, but they pay for it. We are effectively forced to cross-subsidize one activity with another. I don’t think this is fair,” said Mikhail Kuznetsov, General Director of SGK, in an interview with NGS.

But what is even sadder is that the current scheme for calculating tariffs based on costs in heat supply does not at all encourage energy companies to invest in the modernization, first of all, of heating networks - as a rule, the most worn-out and problematic element of the infrastructure. Unlike large thermal power plants, numerous boiler houses are not updated - this negatively affects not only the ecology of cities, but also reduces the efficiency and reliability of the entire system. Reason: when costs decrease, the tariff for the next year is recalculated and reduced. At the end of last year, in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, Mikhail Kuznetsov described this flaw extremely colorfully: “Let’s say that a certain heat supply system has developed in the city - with leaking pipes, half-loaded boiler houses, inefficient heat sources, and we see that if we reduce the excesses, it will will become more efficient. To do this, let’s say, you need to invest 8 billion rubles, and after that we will start earning 800 million rubles a year. Within nine to ten years we will return the invested money, taking into account interest on the loan. But the regulation is such that as soon as I invest these 8 billion rubles and earn 800 million rubles, these 800 million rubles will be taken from me, and I will not be able to return the investment. This is how tariff regulation is structured using the cost-plus method.”

What will change with the new model? First of all, now local authorities will be able to set the maximum price level for thermal energy for the end consumer - and not for one year, but for 5-10 years at once. To understand what this “ceiling” is, the price of heat energy supply from a source replacing centralized heat supply - that very “alternative boiler house” - will be used. No one will actually build such a facility; it will appear only in calculations. Moreover, where the cost of heat is higher than the level of an alternative boiler house, the tariff will be frozen and will not rise until natural inflation brings it closer to this ceiling. And where it is lower, it will grow smoothly during the transition period.

According to some calculations, the cost of one gigacalorie of an “alternative boiler house” in regions, for example, Siberia, can be 2.3-2.6 thousand rubles. This is twice the current tariffs. A number of experts are already sowing panic - they say that it is time for consumers in the cities of the Siberian Federal District to prepare for a multiple jump in the cost of Gcal, which is fraught with social tension and an increase in protest activity. However, such a development is unlikely. Firstly, the authorities will definitely not agree to this; secondly, this is not necessary for the ETO itself. Payment discipline and stable cash flow are more important for companies than short-term financial records.

“Calculations of tariff growth, which experts show, once again confirm: the current price level is critically behind economically justified ones. This means that the heating network infrastructure in most nodes is degrading. That is, an increase in tariffs with fair pricing is possible. Another thing is that the law provides for the right of municipalities to establish a transition period during which such growth can be carried out smoothly. A five-year term may be more interesting for gas regions, and a ten-year term for coal regions. Therefore, there can be no talk of any one-time price shock,” says Roman Nizhankovsky, deputy general director- Executive Director of PJSC "T Plus".

It’s hard for ordinary people to believe, but, as Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Kravchenko emphasized, what is important for investors in heat is not so much the principle of setting tariffs, but the understanding that the saved money will not be taken away from them.

Mikhail Kuznetsov

General Director of SGC

“We understand where billions could be invested in each city. In Barnaul, there is room to invest about nine billion: to replace one-day boiler houses, for the maintenance of which mountains of municipal and regional money must be allocated, while it is sometimes difficult to breathe in the city. Needed serious investment, but give us an “alt boiler house” with a slight increase in tariff - 1.5-2% of inflation - for ten years and we will work normally"

“The “alternative boiler house” scheme makes return on investment in the heating business possible and legal for the first time. This is a long-term mechanism with clear scenario conditions that encourages the use of the most effective technologies. This is very important, since it is the distribution infrastructure that is usually the “ pain point» thermal units. Municipalities have neither the funds nor the competence to effectively operate heating networks. On the other hand, a competent private operator can significantly improve the quality of heat supply, since this also meets its business interests. Now local authorities have the tools to attract such business executives,” sums up Roman Nizhankovsky, Deputy General Director - Executive Director of T Plus PJSC.

Thermal power engineers call their activities unprofitable and associated with a large number of business and technological risks. Formation of tariffs on a cost basis does not stimulate increasing efficiency and reducing costs. As a result, all parties to the relationship are dissatisfied: consumers complain about low quality services, high cost and accident rate, the manufacturer - due to overregulation and lack of motivation. The state is forced to listen to the complaints of the parties and build the right policy from conflicting demands. In the target model of the thermal energy market being created, approaches to pricing and tariff regulation in general have been changed.

Prerequisites for changing tariffs according to the method"alternative boiler room"

The main initiator of the changes was the Russian Ministry of Energy. The new method is called “alternative boiler house price.”

Reformers believe that this will attract investment in modernizing the industry, but will not allow raising tariffs for the production and transmission of thermal energy.

The price limit will be the lowest price at which the construction of a new boiler house - the most ideal from the point of view of production technologies - pays off.

Thus, the price of an “alternative boiler house”, which is the price limit for end consumers and determines the level of refusal from centralized heat supply, includes:

• operating costs;
• funds for capital return and income associated with the construction of a new heat supply source.

What caused the decision to radically change regulatory methods? Answer: in the schedule of changes in productive supply and losses of thermal energy.

Schedule of heat energy supply and its losses in the Russian Federation for 2000-2013.

The authors of the new approach to pricing note that over the past 20 years, centralized heating supply in our country has not developed and, as a result, has fallen into technological and economic decline. The accumulated underfinancing of the industry is about 2.5 trillion rubles. until 2025. Consumers began to abandon centralized heat supply and switch to heat supply from their own boiler houses. As a result, the country’s mass “boiler room” is progressing.

The transition to the alternative boiler house (alt boiler house) method is expected not only to attract investment into the industry, but also to solve a number of problems with cross-subsidization:

• production of thermal energy at the expense of electrical energy;
• consumers receiving thermal energy from the network, at the expense of consumers receiving thermal energy from collectors;
• consumers receiving thermal energy in hot water at the expense of consumers receiving it in the form of steam;
• between district heating systems.

However, this model can create or strengthen subsidies for connecting new consumers by increasing tariffs “for all”.

At the same time, responsibility for organizing heat supply to territories passes from local governments to a single heat supply organization.

What source of thermal energy can be an “alternative boiler house”

Forecast of socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for 2015-2017. in the field of heat supply, it involves a transition to determining a fair price for heat energy supplied from a constructed alternative heat supply source. This is the price of an “alternative boiler house”. Therefore, it is necessary to develop methodological approaches to a new method of regulation.

As a basis for new approaches to tariff regulation, it is advisable to use the pricing system in construction - there is nothing like it in any other field of activity or sector of the economy.

One of the options for an “alternative boiler house” is a low-energy boiler house. In accordance with the Concept for the development and use of small-scale and non-traditional energy opportunities in the energy balance of Russia, developed by the Russian Ministry of Energy in 1993, these are boiler houses with a capacity of up to 20 Gcal/h.

In its essence, an “alternative boiler house” is a move away from centralized heat supply. For example, the construction of a modular boiler room for one apartment building or an enterprise, a group of houses, enterprises.

It should be taken into account that the transition to an alternative boiler house does not limit its power to its own consumption. The owner of a boiler house can begin to sell thermal energy by turning his individual source of thermal energy into a centralized heat supply system, the prices of which will be limited by the price of an alternative boiler house. And subsequently, new consumers can also refuse centralized procurement of the resource.

Small-scale energy is not an alternative to large-scale energy. In certain conditions it does not have any significant advantages. In the model under consideration, the development of small-scale energy is not an end in itself, but a way to avoid the maximum price.

Making an economic decision to exit centralized system heat supply will be provided under the following conditions:

The use of new approaches to pricing forces the management of the cost of thermal energy within the heat supply organization and encourages cost reduction.

• About the program “Energy saving and increasing energy efficiency for the period until 2020”

FYI

The heat supply system in Russia consists of 50 thousand local heat supply systems served by 17 thousand enterprises.

Thermal energy is generated at 526 thermal power plants (public and industrial enterprises) and more than 72 thousand boiler houses.

The wear and tear of boiler and turbine equipment of thermal power plants exceeds 60% on average.

The wear and tear of power equipment in most boiler houses is even higher - 68%.

About 50% of all operating costs in heat supply systems can be attributed to the maintenance of heating networks.

More than 45 thousand km of networks are in need of repair and reconstruction - 26% of all heating networks in the country.

The length of dilapidated heating networks with 100% physical wear and tear is 32 thousand km (19%).

Heat transfer losses average 25–35%. Abroad, this figure is 6–8%.

Tariff calculation

The price using the “alternative boiler room” method can be set in the form of both single-rate and two-rate tariffs.

To offset the impact of a decrease in the effective supply of thermal energy, the cost of return on capital investments must be included in the rate for capacity. This will support the financial condition of heat supply organizations. But it will not weaken the impact of consumers leaving the system.

When comparing options great value have:

• type of alt boiler room;
• the cost of its construction and operation;
• payback periods.

To calculate the tariff using the “alternative boiler room” method, we use a resource-technological model.

At its core - project documentation representative object, which has a positive conclusion state examination and designed in accordance with current design standards.

The project under consideration also includes costs for external networks and structures of water supply, sewerage, heat supply, electricity and gas supply.

The price parameters of the project are given in table. 1.

Table 1

Price parameters for the construction of a modular boiler house in 2016 prices (thousand rubles)

To carry out calculations, an autonomous modular gas boiler house with a capacity of 1 MW (0.86 Gcal/h), with a total construction cost in 2016 prices of 10.9 million rubles, was adopted as an alternative source of thermal energy. (excluding VAT). The payback period for the construction of a new boiler house can be taken to be 10 years.

To make a positive decision on the implementation of a project to switch to generating heat from your own source, two conditions must be met:

• the invested funds must be fully returned;
• the amount of profit received as a result of this operation should compensate for the temporary refusal to use funds and the risk arising from the uncertainty of the final result.

A key place, therefore, will be given to the tariff using the “alternative boiler house” method as the main parameter determining the income of the heat supply organization and the expenses of its consumers.

Let's consider the project implementation scheme from the point of view of the customer constructing his own boiler house, i.e., a subscriber to a centralized heat supply system who intends to abandon centralized heat purchases. In this case, the obtained values ​​of the parameters of the investment project will determine the maximum price in the centralized heat supply system.

• Review of changes to the Federal Law “On Heat Supply”

The current costs of operating a new boiler house will be applied by analogy with the costs of regulated organizations operating small-scale boiler houses. Investment costs are determined based on the price level of the Samara region.

To calculate the investment component in the tariff, it is necessary to select a maximum price at which the project will be both effective and financially sound.

The implementation of the project can be divided into next steps(Table 2):

• design;
• expertise;
• competition for the selection of contractors;
• construction, installation of a modular boiler room.

Table 2

Schedule of financing of work on the transition to alternative heat supply in prices of the Samara region for 2016.

FYI

Benchmark is an indicator or financial asset, the return on which serves as a model for comparing the performance of investments.

The annual useful supply of the boiler house will be 1.7 thousand Gcal. The average tariff for thermal energy for organizations with an installed thermal capacity of up to 1 Gcal/h for 2016 is 1,463 rubles/Gcal (excluding VAT) with a standard specific fuel consumption of 154.05 kg of equivalent fuel. t./Gcal.

This tariff includes:

• current expenses;
• expenses for the purchase of energy resources;
• profit - no more than 0.5% of the total costs of heat supply organizations. This is the standard profit of the organization without capital investments.

Thus, in order to recoup the construction of a new boiler house, the investment component in the thermal energy tariff without taking into account income tax will be determined by the formula:

A feature of the transition to alternative heat supply from modular boiler houses is the short period of project implementation from the beginning of design to commissioning - about a year.

Profit tax is determined by the formula:

Thus, if the tariff for a modular boiler house, taking into account only current costs, is 1463 rubles/Gcal (excluding VAT), then the marginal tariff will be 2267 rubles/Gcal (excluding VAT).

If the project is financed using funds raised at a rate of 12.5% ​​per annum (the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is 8.25% 4 percentage points), then the marginal tariff will increase to 2382 rubles/Gcal (excluding VAT).

The cost of building a boiler house is also affected by:

• technical ability to connect to power supply systems;
• availability land plot for construction;
• the cost of this plot, etc.

The influence of the price of an “alternative boiler house” on the stability of the heat supply system

The resulting value of the marginal tariff for the Samara region is the price level for the production of thermal energy in boiler houses operating on fuel oil or oil, including only current costs, the purchase of energy resources and a standard profit of no more than 0.5%.

The price of an “alternative boiler house,” including the cost of returning invested capital, significantly exceeds the cost of thermal energy in hot water produced in the combined generation mode - up to 1000 rubles/Gcal excluding VAT. However, by setting a marginal tariff of only 2382 rubles/Gcal, it is possible to ensure the operation of heat supply systems for medium and small cities, towns and villages.

Operators of thermal systems, working within the limits of the maximum tariff, enter into contracts at an unregulated price. At the same time, the lower the established marginal price of the alt-boiler house, the higher the risks of equalizing the cost of heat from the thermal power plant and the boiler house.

In this regard, the issue of regulation should be considered not according to the “alternative boiler house” method, but according to the “alternative CHP” method or, as some experts suggest, “alternative IES”, without extending new approaches to pricing to boiler houses.

Of course, the parameters of the project will also be determined by the ratio of equity and borrowed funds used for its implementation. But the proposed approach makes it possible to approximately determine the price of abandoning centralized heat supply and, accordingly, the maximum price according to the target model of the thermal energy market.

Understating the price of an alt boiler room can lead to:

• to increasing problems in the heat supply sector due to increased wear and tear of fixed assets. This is especially true for rural areas, where the specific costs of production and transmission of thermal energy are higher than in the city. Not to mention the costs of producing thermal energy in the mode of combined generation of thermal and electrical energy;
• the impossibility of decommissioning heat supply systems or their parts where the supply of heat energy consumers is ineffective due to losses, low heat supply quality parameters, etc.

At the same time, setting an inflated maximum price will lead to:

• to additional costs for consumers to supply energy to their capital construction projects;
• mass exit from the centralized heat supply system of large consumers who have the financial and organizational capabilities to abandon centralized heat purchases.

When introducing new approaches to pricing, one should also take into account their impact on the index of changes in the amount of citizens’ payments for utility services, established for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation at the federal level.

• Changes in licensing of energy sales activities

Expert opinion

“Alternative boiler room” has no alternative

To solve problems in heat supply, there are no other options other than the introduction of an “alternative boiler house”. This conclusion was reached by the participants of the RBC conference “Thermal Power Industry in Search of Investments” in December 2015.

All speakers noted the difficult situation of the heating industry due to underfunding and the need to urgently attract investment. Heat production and distribution is the last industry that does not live according to the laws of the market. A transition to an alternative boiler room regulation method could fill this gap.

Representative of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development Dmitry Vakhrukov also agrees with the need to introduce an alt boiler room. In his opinion, only this option can attract investment in heat supply.

The Ministry of Energy of Russia and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia believe that the main task of resource supply organizations in today's conditions is to increase internal efficiency. At the same time, market participants note that existing system Cost-plus tariff setting stimulates not an increase in efficiency, but an increase in costs. This situation forces highly efficient CHP plants out of the market by boiler houses with higher tariffs. The introduction of a new market model can eliminate this imbalance and provide, on the one hand, fairer conditions for cogeneration, and on the other hand, certain investment guarantees.

According to Mikhail Kuznetsov, General Director of the Siberian Generating Company, the alternative boiler house method is an extremely simple regulation method. However, it has been discussed for two years. Already today, more than 30% of regulated entities have a tariff higher than the level of the “alternative boiler house”. In 4–5 years, discussions of such subjects will already be 60–80%. The crisis in the industry will lead to irreversible consequences, after which it will be impossible to ignore the issues of the heat market. As an example, Mikhail Kuznetsov cited the intensification of the reform of the electric power industry after the blackout in Moscow in 2005.

The discussion participants agreed that if it is not possible to increase prices for thermal energy, it is necessary to at least provide guarantees. Heat producers must be protected. This is the only way to ensure an influx of investment into the industry.

The “alternative boiler room” method is only one of the benchmarks in the heat market

FAS Russia regards the “alternative boiler house” method only as one of the benchmarks for assessing the effective level of heat cost in regional markets. “We are now analyzing the situation related to the level of tariff applied by all heat supply organizations in all subjects of the Federation, based on the information that we have in the information database within the framework of information disclosure standards. This information is a more reliable benchmark for assessing how tariffs can be set,” said Deputy Head of the FAS of Russia Anatoly Golomolzin.

In regions where heat supply schemes have been approved, it is possible to make long-term tariff decisions that not only optimize the current situation, but are also approved taking into account the prospects for optimal development. Because there we are talking about the optimal relationship between, for example, combined heat and power plants, boiler houses, and centralized heat supply. And this is also one of the main methods provided by law.

“The altitude boiler room is just one of the calculated benchmarks. We suggest treating it this way. Moreover, the issue of applying a similar method taking into account the position of the authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation was discussed. Because there are a lot of risks due to the dangers of theoretical calculations. While the topic of “alternative boiler house” is being discussed, we are receiving cost estimates that differ by a factor of one and a half or more. And every time they are considered economically justified. Their use can lead to significant consequences, both positive and negative. Naturally, regulators must understand what method of tariff regulation they are using,” Golomolzin concluded.

One of the decisions that was made during the discussion in the government is precisely that the subjects of the Federation also have the opportunity to take part in the choice of methods of tariff regulation.

In the last few months, almost no industry event can go by without mentioning the heat supply reform and the transition to a regulation method based on the “alternative boiler room” principle, so expected by legislators.

Representatives of the State Duma claim that during the finalization of the document, the risks identified by the professional community were removed, and, in fact, there is nothing to worry about. And although debates between supporters and opponents of this mechanism do not subside on the sidelines, official statements by both sides, as a rule, have a neutral tone - few officials are ready to go against the opinion of the majority in the presence of the press.

First Belka and Strelka, only then Gagarin

– I know the situation in the thermal power industry firsthand: the accumulated imbalances and physical wear and tear are, of course, not encouraging, but when those who are responsible for it today received generation, they promised a lot, including from the point of view of modernization. Now we hear more and more often that the situation is critical. In my opinion, the stable mechanism that has developed in the industry for the emergence of such ideas as ETO and the “alternative boiler room” is due to the fact that expert platforms are highly specialized and are mainly lobbying. As a result, the discourse is narrowed to the agenda of the customer, or, at best, to the agenda of highly specialized participants. But we all understand well: the country’s housing and communal services complex is complex and requires an integral approach,” noted Mr. Galchenko. – I first came across the abbreviation ETO and the concept of “alternative boiler house” quite a long time ago, when I came across a report from one of the most famous management consulting firms, commissioned by the Ministry of Energy. It was a very honest report. It said that with the introduction of ETO and an “alternative boiler house” in the country as a whole, a one-time increase in the heat tariff will amount to an average of 30 percent, and in some territories – 50-70 percent. In Kemerovo, the tariff would increase by 105 (!) percent. When I moved to the Energy Committee, everything in the Duma was ready for the adoption of the law on ETO and the “alternative boiler house”. Then this process was stopped, but then maneuvers began - this always happens when it is not possible to carry out some kind of decision “head-on”. IN at the moment everything is presented in such a way as if some changes have been made and the decisions on the ETO will be made by the regions, but for me it is the same, only a side view, because the regions will, of course, make the appropriate decisions.

The deputy believes that the introduction of the “alternative boiler room” mechanism should be started with a pilot, experimented in one city: what if the management consultant made a mistake, and with him everyone who promotes the ETO?

– Why experiment on the whole country? They even launched Belka and Strelka into space first, and then Gagarin. ETO and the “alternative boiler room” are like “a girl with a little girl” – one without the other makes no sense. But let's figure out what ETO is - this is when the CHP plant receives city networks. As a result, one or another boiler house existing today will be able to transfer heat to the network only if its direct competitor allows it to do so. By the way, everyone remembers the recent campaign to force the concession of those same boiler houses, and it seems that those who are promoting this law want to bury the concession. It seems to me that this is a trivial raiding, and even a difficult one, and with the use of the state, which, as you know, previously initiated the privatization of boiler houses. By the way, during the reform of RAO UES of Russia, everything was explained to us exactly the opposite: generation is in private hands, and networks under no circumstances, they must remain with the state.

The speaker also noted:

– You probably think that after making a decision on an “alternative boiler house”, you will be able to go to some region and see this very “alternative boiler house”. So no. “An alternative boiler room” is a kind of virtual thing that does not exist and will not exist; it will be presented to us through calculations. Colleagues, give me the task of calculating a tariff that is 30 percent higher for an “alternative boiler house,” and I’ll calculate that a mosquito won’t hurt my nose. It will be necessary to increase the tariff by 50 percent - I will calculate that much, there are no special problems. I declare responsibly: the “alternative boiler house” will be calculated at any tariff.

– We have been discussing the alt boiler room at various sites for at least the last three years, and I am inclined to think that there is simply no other way out. However, questions remain. Almost our entire country operates on a centralized heating system; under no circumstances should it be destroyed. We all know that combined generation is cheaper than if we separately generate heat or electricity, but we can bring the situation to the point where our electricity tariff will be “tailed”, and we will not know where to get cheap electricity - its price and Now it bites.

Hold the answer

Member of the State Duma Committee on Energy, head of the section on legislative regulation of municipal heat supply of the Expert Council Pyotr Pimashkov supported the official:

– The main goal of the bill “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Heat Supply” and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on Improving the System of Relations in the Sphere of Heat Supply,” adopted in the first reading, is to increase the efficiency of generation operating on the basis of combined generation electrical and thermal energy. This document proposes a new system of relations in heat supply, in particular a change in the role of ETO, which will not just be a single purchaser and supplier of heat energy in its area of ​​​​operation, but will become a single center of responsibility in the heat supply system for ensuring its quality parameters. The introduction of the new model at the first stage is supposed to be carried out not everywhere, but locally on the territory of individual municipalities - in heat supply price zones determined by the government with mandatory agreement with the heads of the subjects and heads of local governments. Considering the innovativeness of the proposed approach, this will make it possible to implement this model only after a comprehensive assessment of all the consequences, first of all, for the budget and consumers.

A full-fledged sector of the economy

State Duma Deputy Viktor Zubarev noted: since the adoption of Federal Law No. 261 “On energy saving and increasing energy efficiency…”energy saving has become an important component of the country’s national economy. A market for energy audits and energy services has been created, and professional market participants have appeared who invest money and efforts in business related to energy saving. In addition to the law, more than sixty regulations were issued at the federal level, not counting regional ones.

– The accumulated experience allows us to talk about the transition to solving a larger-scale problem, namely the formation of energy saving as a full-fledged sector of the economy. It is necessary to create an infrastructure for the energy saving industry, which will include adequate modern requirements legal framework, practice of relations between customers and contractors, production of components, software, personnel training and much more,” said the politician.
Meanwhile, he noted, the practice of applying the law “On Energy Saving” has revealed a number of problems: insufficient balance of corporate investment programs with territorial development programs; reduction in budget funding for projects and activities in the field of energy saving and energy efficiency.

– The central idea of ​​the draft Energy Strategy of Russia until 2035 is the transition from resource-based and raw material development of the fuel and energy complex to resource-innovative development, while the role of the fuel and energy complex in the country’s economy will be in the transition from a development engine to a stimulating infrastructure. What is worrying is that the draft energy strategy contains weak promises regarding energy saving and effective use energy. I believe that today serious attention needs to be focused on informing and popularizing an energy-saving lifestyle among the population. It is also important to monitor energy efficiency at the regional and municipal levels, develop remote forms transfer of data and their automated processing, taking into account consumer opinions,” summarized Mr. Zubarev.

Vyacheslav Kravchenko is convinced that energy efficiency is the way out of the current situation in heat supply:

– The question is what incentives to create so that consumers and producers are as interested as possible in the implementation of energy efficient technologies. First of all, we need a clear tariff policy, because in the case of a resource supplying organization we are talking about clear long-term rules of tariff regulation. We cannot do without strict administration: the introduction of a ban on the sale of incandescent lamps with a power of over one hundred kilowatts gave impetus to the development of energy efficiency, I consider such actions on the part of the state correct. Another thing is that not all owners, namely municipalities, are interested in introducing energy efficient technologies. In this case, it is necessary to think about the system of motivating management and specifically municipalities for such events.

Municipalities are not disabled people

– Every municipality has potential, it is able to reveal it, give it appropriate support, and find effective solutions. For example, we have many industrial enterprises, and after monitoring, we found out which of them are actively involved in energy efficiency, which have some groundwork in this area that would be of interest to us. Thus, we found an enterprise that produces innovative materials for waterproofing and increasing the energy efficiency of building envelopes.

New technology allows you to repair the roof in just seven days, ensuring a reduction in heat losses by 50-75 percent and a payback period of 5-8 years, so we get real efficiency. To do this, there is no need to involve the federal center and come up with special laws,” said Mr. Markin.

In Khimki, much attention is paid to the introduction of metering devices, which makes it possible to monitor the energy consumption of apartment buildings.

– An important item in municipal expenditures is outdoor lighting. For 2017-2018, it is planned to implement an energy-efficient investment project for installing LED street lighting. The scale of the project, depending on the investor, will range from five to eleven thousand lamps. The approximate volume of investment is 0.4-0.6 billion rubles. At the moment, a competition has been announced to conduct an energy audit,” the speaker explained. – In addition, in 2017-2019 it is planned to implement an investment project for the construction of wastewater treatment facilities. The goal of the project, the volume of investment in which will amount to 1.2 billion rubles, is to ensure high-quality cleaning promising volumes waste water. These will be the first comprehensive wastewater treatment plants in the district, they will occupy an area of ​​1.7 hectares and provide 50 new jobs.

In general, all our measures are aimed, among other things, at reducing the burden on the municipal budget. I am often asked how the Moscow region is doing in terms of energy efficiency. Colleagues, in the Moscow region everything is much better with energy efficiency than it was before, and in Khimki it’s even better than in the Moscow region.

Despite everything, there is investor interest

– As a company implementing energy projects, including in the field of heat and power, in many regions of Russia - from the Far East to Kaliningrad, we have been participating in the examination of the condition of heat and power facilities for a long time, and therefore it is possible to derive a general pattern with the development of this industry on the territory of the country,” said a member of the board of directors of the group of companies “Complex energy solutions» Alexey Baranov. – Local governments, as a rule, do not have the competence to prepare projects and attract investments. At the same time, based on the experience of heat and power projects of KER, we can conclude that the heat and power industry itself is interesting for investors. For example, the Kirov region, in which five years ago part of the boiler houses were transferred from diesel fuel to peat as part of a public-private partnership worth 620 million rubles, recouped the investment within three years.

The speaker emphasized: without raising tariffs, investments in thermal energy sources usually take a long time to pay off, and the lending rates at which banks lend money for such projects are most often higher than the market average.

Why doesn't business trust the authorities?

The expert noted: a multi-level heat regulation system does not actually protect the consumer. Today regulation is carried out by various departments: the Ministry of Construction is responsible for the growth index of citizens' payments for utilities; city ​​administrations - for the development of heat supply schemes; FAS - for the maximum tariffs for heat generated by thermal power plants, and regional regulators - for the costs of each organization and tariffs for thermal energy for consumers. The only result of such comprehensive regulation is a steady and unpredictable increase in tariffs.

– Everyone suffers from such a regulatory system. First of all, the population. Today, the average Russian family pays about the same for heat as the average family in the Nordic countries. This is a lot, considering that the income level of our population is fundamentally different from theirs,” the speaker comments. “In addition, suppliers have no incentive to upgrade equipment or build new heat sources or infrastructure. This ultimately leads to further inefficiency and cost increases. utilities. This vicious circle can only be broken through a complete modernization of the system of relationships between consumers, heat energy producers and authorities.

Mr. Eroshin admitted: it is not surprising that under the current conditions, businesses have no desire to invest more money in heat supply systems than is required.

– I would like every regulator and official, when this or that comes to him for approval legal act in the field of heat supply, I would think, first of all, about how many bureaucratic restrictions this document will remove from the heat supply organization, how much easier it will be for companies to conduct their business in this area, how much easier it will be to invest money both from private capital and from outside bank financing of the heat supply system. Further expansion of contradictory restrictions will not lead to anything good. It is necessary to create a system of relationships between business and government in which business will be interested in implementing measures to improve the efficiency of heat supply and will be guaranteed to retain savings from increasing efficiency as a means of returning investments and making a profit. In today’s model, savings are not preserved: for the regulator, marginal indices are more important than guarantees to the investor, add to this the unreliable conditions for maintaining savings and the confusing formulas of the tariff methodology, and it turns out that in the end business does not trust the authorities.