Published on: 2026-10-15
Source: Government of the Russian Federation –
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Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, as part of the second day of the international forum “Russian Energy Week,” took part in a meeting of the State Council’s Energy Commission.
The event was attended by the chairman of the commission, head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Aysen Nikolaev, Minister of Energy Sergey Tsivilev, Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Alexey Chekunkov, representatives of the Presidential Administration, the State Duma, the Federation Council, industry organizations, and regional authorities.
During the meeting, the speakers discussed the development of advanced technologies for electricity generation by coal power plants in Russia. The focus of the discussion was on the modernization of existing capacities, construction of new power units with ultrasupercritical steam parameters, the capabilities of domestic power engineering, as well as mechanisms for attracting and returning investments to new projects. Participants paid special attention to the prospects for the development of coal generation in Siberia and the Far East.
Opening the discussion, Alexander Novak noted that coal generation maintains a significant role in ensuring reliable power supply to Siberia, the Far East, and the Urals. Today, coal power plants produce about 14% of Russia’s electricity. At the same time, the average age of the power plants is around 37 years, and more than half of the capacity has been in use for over 40 years. The general scheme for the placement of electric power facilities until 2042 provides for the commissioning of 11.9 GW of new coal capacity and the modernization of another 11.5 GW.
“We face a dual task – to ensure the timely renewal of generating equipment and at the same time move to more efficient electricity production technologies. It is important already at the project preparation stage to determine technological solutions that will ensure high equipment efficiency throughout the entire lifecycle, reduce specific fuel consumption, and negative environmental impact,” emphasized Alexander Novak.
Aysen Nikolaev noted that the domestic industry today possesses the design potential and production capacities to manufacture equipment, turbines, boilers, and generators using SSPP technology.
“Currently, we have reached a stage where active assistance from the responsible specialized ministries is necessary on issues such as fine-tuning legislation for the implementation of power plant construction projects using new advanced technologies. Defining the financing mechanism and return on investment for such projects, identifying sites for their implementation, and including them in forward-looking development documents—all this will make it possible to conduct a more accurate technical and economic feasibility study of the projects and proceed to designing power plants at the SKKP,” said Aisen Nikolaev.
Sergey Tsivilev noted that today the Russian energy sector faces a task of national scale – to meet the growing demand for electricity. The approach must be based on a sensible choice of primary energy sources in the fuel balance of each region. For Siberia and the Far East, where significant coal reserves are concentrated, generation based on coal is one of the most important directions.
“In Russia, there is currently an urgent issue concerning the modernization of existing and the construction of new steam power units. To achieve this, it is necessary to use modern, highly efficient technologies. One such technology is the production of power units operating at ultra-supercritical steam parameters. Transitioning to this technology allows the efficiency of steam power plants to be increased up to 47% and reduces coal consumption for electricity generation by 10–30%,” stated the Minister of Energy.
Alexey Chekunov noted that in accordance with the directives of the President of Russia, the economy of the Far East has been developing at an accelerated pace for more than a decade. State support measures and preferential regimes established in the macro-region have enabled the launch of more than 1,000 new enterprises. A new investment cycle is now starting in the Far East.
“A key issue for our investors is reliable and long-term electricity supply. Over the past five years, energy consumption in the Far East has increased by 21%, which is twice the average rate across Russia. By 2030, a further one-third growth is forecast. A long-term program for the development of the Far East’s power industry has been approved. Large-scale projects are to be implemented. It is important to build a balanced generation structure, in which coal traditionally holds a special place. The share of coal generation in the Far East’s fuel balance exceeds 65%, meaning it is not just a significant system element but its foundation. The Far East possesses colossal reserves of coal of all grades: the volume of explored reserves amounts to nearly 26 billion tons. Our goal is not just to burn coal, but to unlock its potential wisely by using modern technologies: digitization of processes, improving the efficiency of coal plants, implementing emission scrubbing systems, developing deep coal processing, and carbon capture, storage, and utilization technologies,” added Alexey Chekunkov.
To accelerate the adoption of new technologies, in particular, it was proposed to develop a comprehensive program for the modernization and development of coal generation. It may include a “roadmap” for the construction of new and modernization of existing units, a list of pilot facilities, investment return mechanisms, industry orders for equipment and materials, an R&D program, and measures for preferential financing. For individual pilot projects, it was also proposed to consider an experimental legal regime of up to five years, allowing the removal of regulatory barriers during the technology development period.
Following the discussion, participants noted the need to synchronize coal generation development plans with the capabilities of domestic power engineering, define parameters and sites for pilot power units, and also establish economic and regulatory conditions for the subsequent transition from individual projects to serial construction of modern coal power plants.
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