The unified power system of the Union State will work according to uniform rules n

The overall energy market has received a tangible start-up momentum. The Ministries of Energy of Russia and Belarus recently signed an agreement in Minsk on the sidelines of the XXX Belarusian Energy and Environmental Forum, which is designed to regulate the functioning of the unified electricity market of the Union State. Thus, another step has been taken towards leveling the economic conditions in the energy sector and working according to uniform rules.

The need for closer coordination of the activities of Belarusian and Russian enterprises in the generation, distribution and sale of electricity is becoming increasingly obvious as its consumption and, accordingly, generation grows. The process is global, but within the framework of the Union State is also clearly traced. In Belarus, for example, the generation of electricity for 30 years almost doubled to 43-45 billion kWh, the country practically refused to import it. Consumption has also increased accordingly. It is enough to recall the dynamic development of data centers, all types of electric transport, electric heating of buildings. At the same time, up to 40% of electricity production today accounts for the innovative Belarusian NPP, which is planned to be expanded.

Similar processes are underway in Russia. However, no single, even the largest power system can function effectively in isolation, said Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia Yevgeny Grabchak. Complementarity creates a basis for mutually beneficial cooperation, a vivid example of which is the long-term allied ties of power engineers of Russia and Belarus.

- All bureaucratic procedures have been completed. Operators are defined, order is defined. We can exchange electricity and meet each other’s needs. Starting next year, we will begin, the deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Energy outlined the current stage of intersectoral integration following the signing of an agreement on unified rules for the electricity market of the Union State.

In fact, we are talking about launching a common energy market. This will make it possible to use the generating capacities of the two countries more efficiently. So far, mutual supplies in this area are quite modest. The agreement will increase these volumes, and therefore competition, which will allow the end consumer to choose a cost-effective option for energy supply. Accordingly, the most efficient generating capacities will be evenly loaded. And the higher the efficiency, the fairer the price of electricity in the market.

Should we expect its cost to decrease? In the current rather turbulent economic conditions, when new investments are needed to develop the energy industry, experts say. But if the price increase occurs due to inflation and other reasons, it will not become significant, as the most effective cost decisions will be selected, Evgeny Grabchak assured.

The agreement on common rules for the functioning of the Union electricity market was a continuation of the unified energy policy established by the 1999 Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State. Even then, measures were envisaged to ensure parallel operation of the power systems of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. The importance of this activity was again emphasized by the Decree of the Supreme State Council of January 29, 2024 “On the main directions of implementing the provisions of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State for 2024-2026”. In December of the same year in Minsk, the presidents of Belarus and Russia signed an agreement on the formation of a unified electricity market. In order to implement it, the powers to sign the rules of its functioning were vested with the ministries of energy of the two countries. The first stage of the Belarusian-Russian electricity market will begin next year. It is assumed that the sale of electricity should be carried out through special authorized representatives - large energy producers on each side. The second stage provides for deeper integration in the energy sector against the background of the planned alignment of the cost conditions for natural gas. In particular, it is planned to organize a single technological process of operational dispatching management of the industry.

BETWEEN THEM

In the future, the combined electricity market of Russia and Belarus should be synchronized with the work of the common electricity market of the Eurasian Economic Union. At the first stage, energy trade will be conducted under free bilateral agreements. The second stage of the EAEU market with centralized trade is planned to be launched from 2029.