A. KULAPIN. Russian Energy Agency of the Ministry of Energy of Russian: half a century of experience in new realities

Alexey KULAPIN

CEO of the FSBO “Russian Energy Agency” of the Ministry of Energy of Russia, Doctor of Chemistry

Russia traditionally plays the role of a guarantor of national and global energy security. Being at the same time a large producer and exporter of all types of carbon energy resources, the domestic fuel and energy complex (FEC) makes a significant contribution to the national economy, providing about 30–40 % of federal budget revenues, the activity of other industries and helping to improve the quality of life of citizens of our country.

At the same time, we see that global markets are constantly transforming: inter-fuel competition and the influence of climate policy on the development of world energy are increasing, new promising energy sources are emerging, breakthrough technologies, including digital ones, are developing. It should be noted that the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which spread throughout the world in 2020, not only failed stop the development of these trends, but, on the contrary, became an additional driver for them.

In the future, all this can become both a challenge and a new stimulus for the development of the Russian energy sector.

Today, in order to maintain Russia’s position on international energy markets and further socio-economic development of the country, an active construction of energy infrastructure is underway, including plants for the production of liquefied natural gas and renewable energy facilities, conditions are being created to increase the level of processing of raw materials in the domestic market and its subsequent redistribution and production of finished products with higher added value. To enter new high-tech markets, the state is working to stimulate the creation and implementation of domestic advanced technologies in the fuel and energy complex, the development of alternative and environmentally friendly energy sources, including hydrogen energy sector.

To further strengthen the competitive ability of the Russian FEC and facilitate a systematic transition to a more flexible and sustainable energy industry capable of effectively responding to emerging global challenges,

it is necessary to provide high-quality expert support for the energy policy implemented by the state, develop a dialogue between the state and energy producers, and support the domestic school of science.

For more than 50 years, the Russian Energy Agency of the Ministry of Energy of Russia has been an important element of the state system of information and analytical support for the activities of the Ministry for Sustainable Energy Development, aimed at effectively solving three interrelated tasks – energy security, economic growth and environmental stability.

But, as it is commonly known, new times call for new solutions.

To create a unified expertise on computer attacks, their early warning and the development of a response methodology, it is planned to create an industry center for cybersecurity

To work out measures that are adequate to the situation, taking into account the interests of Russia for the further balanced development of energy, both traditional and alternative, the Agency needs to reformat its work and develop its competencies not only in current but also in completely new directions that meet the requirements of the time.

One of the most important near-term tasks is to complete the creation and to transit to the next stage – the development of the state information system of the fuel and energy complex (SIS of the FEC), including, taking into account the priorities outlined by the Government of the Russian Federation, to ensure new approaches to its development: the need to create a data model, within the framework of which the collected indicators will be reconciled to avoid duplication of data collection between various state and regional information systems.

Using the SIS of the FEC, it will be necessary to bring to a qualitatively new level the work on collecting and processing industry information, preparing sets of regular reports on the activities of the FEC, which will develop an aggregate picture of the state of affairs in the energy industries and, on its basis, make informed decisions on the further development of at the federal and regional levels.

In the foreseeable future, the system is going to become a key element of the information and analytical basis of digital public administration, which provides a comprehensive analysis of the situation and development trends in the energy sector, including through the creation of new services for interaction between the state, FEC companies, as well as related sectors of the economy.

To provide the Russian Ministry of Energy with analytical data on the development of the oil and coal industries, the FEC Analytical Center is already functioning as part of the REA. In times to come, a similar analytical center is planned to be created in the electric power industry. It will provide end-to-end analytics and analysis of global trends in science and technology in the industry. In the future, both structures are going to become an instrument of strategic planning in the FEC and to provide support for its transition from the traditional mode to the energy industry of the future.

No less important tasks, which the Russian Energy Agency of the Ministry of Energy of Russia should focus on, are the improvement of work to ensure support for the activities of the Ministry on Import Substitution, Scientific, Technological and Digital Development of the Fuel and Energy Complex.

Work in all these areas is determined by the country’s top leadership as a priority on the scale of the economy as a whole¹.

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¹    Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated May 07, 2018 No. 204 “On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Development of the Russian Federation for the Period Until 2024”, Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated July 21, 2020 No. 474 “On National Goals of the Development of the Russian Federation for the Period Until 2030.”

To ensure a systematic approach to reducing the dependence of the Russian FEC on imports and the formation of a consolidated industry demand for domestic import-substituting technologies, a Competence Center for Technological Development of the FEC has been created and is successfully operating.

A number of noteworthy initiatives have been implemented in the branch network of the Agency, such as organization of centers for supporting activities in the field of intellectual property protection, centers for working with specialized databases.

The agenda is focused on the formation of centers of excellence for scientific and technological development and digital transformation in the FEC. The key fields of their work will be the creation of a knowledge management system and base in the FEC, scientific industry expertise, expertise of scientific, technical, investment and innovation projects, the formation of proposals for the implementation of scientific and technical policy in the energy sector, the creation of a complete information model of the FEC and the development of platform services. In addition, a platform will be arranged to support the implementation of the EnergyNet roadmap².

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²    The EnergyNet roadmap of the National Technology Initiative was approved by the Presidium of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation for Economic Modernization and Innovative Development of Russia on September 28, 2016.

Today, being a scientific organization, REA regularly holds educational events on various topical issues for the FEC, industry, and the construction sector. In the coming times, it is planned to bring this work to a new level: together with energy companies, create a single center for online education in the FEC, the best practices of which can be adapted for foreign countries, organize seminars at the regional level, explaining the main provisions of the current state energy policy.

Special attention will be paid by the Agency to the issues of cybersecurity. With the development of technologies, the complication of modern control systems for technological processes and the digitization of fuel and energy facilities, the risk of industry cyber threats is becoming more and more significant. To coordinate work on combating cyberattacks in the FEC, that is to create a single point of knowledge and expertise for computer attacks and vulnerabilities for energy industries, to timely warn of the development of attacks, to increase information literacy of workers and develop an industry-wide methodology for responding to cyberattacks, it is planned to create an industry cybersecurity center.

The essential conditions for sustainable development of the world economy and, in particular, energy are environmental protection and combating climate change. The Agency is faced with the task of methodological and technological support of activities in the FEC to improve environmental safety and reduce carbon intensity at the systemic level, including to ensure the protection of the competitiveness of Russian energy products on world markets in connection with the planned cross-border carbon regulation.

A separate block of works will be devoted to information and analytical support for the activities of the Ministry of Energy of Russian on the development of hydrogen energy industry in the country. Currently, at the level of the Government of the Russian Federation, the task has been set to increase production and expand the scope of application of hydrogen as an environmentally friendly energy carrier, as well as the country’s entry into the list of world leaders in its production and export³. As part of its solution, REA was assigned the functions of a project office, which provides support for the implementation of the corresponding roadmap.

³    Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated October 12, 2020 No. 2634-r on the approval of the action plan (roadmap) for the development of hydrogen energy industry in the Russian Federation until 2024.

The implementation of all these areas will allow the formation of an analytical platform on the basis of the Russian Energy Agency of the Ministry of Energy of Russia, contributing to the building of an effective dialogue between the state and the industry community, and will contribute to raising the status of the Agency and the country as a whole at the global level.