Systemic Problems of the Russian Electric Power Industry and Ways to Comprehensively Solve Them

The key problems of the Russian electric power industry, their consequences, and ways to solve them in the medium- and long-term periods are analyzed. It is shown that these problems have mainly been caused by the liberal “reform” of the electric power industry, by the disintegration of control system for managing interconnected processes consisting of electricity generation, transmission, distribution and consumption, as well as by shifting main targets from the social orientation of the fuel-and-energy sector (FES) and from securing accessible, reliable, high-quality, and economically efficient consumer power supply to achieving investment attractiveness, competitiveness, and gaining profits. It should be noted that the problems and objective difficulties can only be overcome through applying an integrated systems approach to improving and developing the technological, structural, organizational, and regulatory framework of the FES, as well as to securing technological and state sovereignty. The main principles of this systems approach are listed. A number of top priority measures have been proposed to achieve more efficient development and performance of the Russian electric power industry, including renewable, distributed, and space energy systems, as well as regulatory documents on the stimulation of reliable and high-quality power supply to consumers and the manufacture and application of innovative and energy-saving equipment and technologies. Special attention is paid to the need for enhancing the state in managing Russian Unified Energy System and the FES as a whole, which in the former Soviet Union were the most reliable and efficient in the world. They should have just the same qualities in the new Russia, which consist in the new capabilities of technology and in taking into account the best Russian domestic and international practices. It should be noted that the development of public-and-private partnership for innovative development based on the digital transformation of the industry and the revival of the competitive domestic electrical and instrument construction industry, as well as for creating new jobs and attracting talented young people to the electric power industry, are of greatest importance under the new conditions.