The importance of the concept of sustainable development in the activities of energy companies

Sustainable development of energy enterprises is aimed at consistent transformations that ensure effective and sustainable development of the country's energy sector. It covers sustainable changes in industries and enterprises of the fuel and energy complex, which plays a key systemic role. The article analyzes the activities of energy sector enterprises and identifies their specifics in the context of achieving sustainable development goals. The purpose of this article is to study the essence of sustainable development of the energy sector and analyze methodological approaches to its assessment. The concept of "sustainable energy development" is considered at three levels: state, sectoral and at the level of energy enterprises. The authors offer their own vision of sustainable energy development for each of these levels. The article also analyzes methodological approaches used in world practice to assess sustainable energy development, focusing exclusively on the state level. The following methods were used in the study: analysis and synthesis - for a detailed study of the basic principles of the functioning of the energy sector; induction and deduction - for an in-depth analysis of the features of its activities in the context of achieving sustainable development goals. In addition, a graphical method was used, which allows us to clearly present the results obtained and demonstrate the key conclusions of the study. The combination of these approaches ensures the complexity and structure of the analysis. It was found that sustainability is inherent in such systems that, under the influence of external and internal factors, retain their basic characteristics and properties. To eliminate imbalances in development and achieve proportionality, the structure of the system must be flexible, adaptive and have the potential for continuous improvement. An important role in ensuring the sustainability and integrity of the energy system is played by the integration and interdependence of its elements, as well as their ability to effectively self-regulate.