| Russia, as a country with a developed energy system and a world leader in the deposits of basic types of primary fuel resources, will not face—either in the short or medium term—a problem of ensuring energy security through the development of renewable energy sources. However, in the last decade and a half, the most technologically mature sectors of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, have turned into a powerful high-tech business with a multibillion dollar investment, being the subject of competition both between separate regions and whole countries. The volume of investment in solar projects in 2015 amounted to approximately $161 billion USD and that in wind projects amounted to $100 billion USD [1]. According to the authors’ estimates made on the basis of sectoral reviews and corporate reports of the largest manufacturers of photovoltaic modules and wind generators1, the global market for photovoltaic modules in 2015 was $72 billion USD, which is more than 2.6 times higher than 2 years ago [2]. The global production and service of wind generators was close to $80 billion USD and increased in comparison with 2013 more than two times [2]. Multiplicative effects from the development of RES extend not only to power engineering but also to such sectors as electrical engineering, power electronics, metallurgy, and production of rare earth elements, transport, information and telecommunication technologies, building, construction materials, etc. and they are also drivers of innovative activity for energy companies, stimulating research and development. In addition, a key feature of some renewable energy sectors is that they contribute to the development of the local labor market, regardless of where the equipment for generating facilities under construction is produced. Large dimensions and complexity of generating equipment operation makes it economically attractive to create even a single link of the manufacturing chain in situ, in the country or region where the RES project is implemented. Therefore, many governments have started actively supporting localization of the RES equipment manufacturing, to ensure both accelerated growth of the industry and a technology transfer to the adjacent industrial sectors [3]. |
