Leonid Kalimullin

The article is devoted to the analysis of the development of hydropower in the Russian Federation for the period 2010–2024, including an assessment of its role in the country's energy balance, regional characteristics, investment dynamics, and Russia's international position. Based on data from strategic documents of the Russian Federation, industry statistics, and reports from PJSC RusHydro, the authors examine the key trends that have emerged: a slight decrease in the share of hydroelectric power plants in the overall structure of installed capacity, a steady increase in electricity generation, and concentration of capacity primarily in Siberia and the Far East. Significant regional imba‑ lances are identified. The largest capacity increases are observed in the integrated energy systems of the Russian East, South, and Siberia, while stagnation is observed in Central Russia. The article emphasizes that in a number of regions of the North Caucasus, hydropower almost completely meets local electricity needs. A comparison is made with the world leader, China, which has accounted for more than half of the global increase in hydroelectric capacity over the past 25 years. It is noted that funding for investment projects in the Russian hydropower sector has fallen almost in half, creating serious constraints on the industry's development. The scientific novelty of the article lies in identifying the current balance of development factors and proposing structured measures to strengthen them, grouped by financial, investment, technological, regional, and infrastructural areas. In conclusion, the authors note that Russia's strategic priorities have shifted toward developing the hydroelectric potential of its eastern territories and ensuring energy security, while decarbonization remains the global driver.

Renewable energy is considered the one of the most promising solutions to meet sustainable development goals in terms of climate change mitigation. Today, we face the problem of further scaling up renewable energy infrastructure, which requires the creation of reliable energy storages, environmentally friendly carriers, like hydrogen, and competitive international markets. These issues provoke the involvement of resource-based countries in the energy transition, which is questionable in terms of economic efficiency, compared to conventional hydrocarbon resources. To shed a light on the possible efficiency of green hydrogen production in such countries, this study is aimed at: (1) comparing key Russian trends of green hydrogen development with global trends, (2) presenting strategic scenarios for the Russian energy sector development, (3) presenting a case study of Russian hydrogen energy project «Dyakov Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP» in Magadan region. We argue that without significant changes in strategic planning and without focus on sustainable solutions support, the further development of Russian power industry will be halted in a conservative scenario with the limited presence of innovative solutions in renewable energy industries. Our case study showed that despite the closeness to Japan hydrogen market, economic efficiency is on the edge of zero, with payback period around 17 years. The decrease in project capacity below 543.6 MW will immediately lead to a negative NPV. The key reason for that is the low average market price of hydrogen ($14/kg), which is only a bit higher than its production cost ($12.5/kg), while transportation requires about $0.96/kg more. Despite the discouraging results, it should be taken into account that such strategic projects are at the edge of energy development. We see them as an opportunity to lead transnational energy trade of green hydrogen, which could be competitive in the medium term, especially with state support.

The purpose of the research is to analyze the needs for supporting developed systems of energy storage and storage systems. The analysis of the main global global challenges and challenges associated with the prospects for the development of energy storage and storage systems in Russia. Energy storage and storage technologies in the leading countries for the development of this energy industry (European Union countries, USA, China). Recommendations are formulated to ensure the possibility of creating energy storage systems in Russia. Scientific novelty lies in the development of theoretical and methodological provisions of a system for stimulating the development of energy storage and storage technologies, based on experiments with a high level of technological development in the energy sector, capable of setting and achieving strategic technological fronts of state development. Energy industries, including industry development programs and corporate documents of energy companies; in support of projects for the implementation of initiatives for the development and development of energy storage systems; in the process of developing educational programs in the field of energy and cooperation projects.