«Electrical Networks of Russia-2013»

Yesterday All-Russian exhibition center in Moscow hosted XVI International Specialized exhibition «Electrical networks of Russia-2013″ which will last till December 6 this year; the organizers of the event were the Veterans of Power Industry Council and ZAO “Electric networks” with the support of the Ministry of Energy of Russia and the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Magazine “ELECTRIC POWER. Transmission and Distribution” entered into partnership with the event as the general media partner. This time the exhibition gathered a record number of participants. 499 companies from around the world presented their expositions. Therefore exhibit space was significantly expanded. The display stands were located both in the Pavilion and on the open ground.
At the opening ceremony of the exhibition Chairperson of the Committee of the State Duma of Russian Federation on energy Ivan Grachev, a member of the Federation Council on Economic Policy Viktor Rogotskiy, Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC «FGC UES» Vladimir Dykoy, Vice President of the International Energy Association Vladimir Dzhangirov, and editor-in-chief of “ELECTRIC POWER. Transmission and distribution” magazine Ekaterina Guseva addressed welcome speeches to the participants. Having congratulated the audience on the coming professional holiday – Power Engineers’ Day, the honorary guests noted that the exhibition this time was particularly rich and interesting, wished the participants and visitors make the most of the event and be sure to tell colleagues about what new they saw in the technology field, in what direction the sector moves, what problems are solved at the present stage. In the meantime all speakers highlighted the key problems of the domestic power. In particular, Grachev stressed that the reform of the electric power industry has not produced the desired results but only complicated the situation both within the industry and with customers. Private investment in the industry did not surge and prices jumped to incredible heights. According to V. Dykoy one of the massive faults of basic sectors of the economy is the low labor productivity, which is reflected, inter alia, in the final customer tariffs. E. Guseva, in its turn, noted that this year the exhibition has reached a new stage of development, providing a unique platform to discuss urgent issues of the industry. Therefore throughout the whole period of the show at the booth of “ELECTRICITY. Transmission and distribution” a reception office of “Electric networks” Expert section of Advisory Council under the speaker of the State Duma Committee on energy was established, where everyone can see the results of the work of the section regarding amendments to legislative and normative acts in the field of electricity, as well as leave comments and proposals to revise the legislation in this field. During the first day of the exhibition the enlarged meeting of the expert section of the «Electric networks» on the theme: «Problems of the distribution power network on the territory of the Russian Federation» was organized by the magazine «ELECTRIC POWER. Transmission and distribution.” The meeting took place, interested dialogue about the State and fate of the distribution power network of the country was aboiled. The discussion was a categorical with diametrically opposed assessments and opinions. Still, the meeting focused on constructive dialogue, enabling to seek and find solutions for the major challenges of the industry. The Chairman of the State Duma Committee on energy Ivan Grachev noted that as a result of the reform of the electric power facilities the management personnel has increased significantly; engineering personnel on the contrary, shrank and weakened. This has a negative impact on the activities of core enterprises. The alarming situation developed in the distribution power network where the reform resulted in the appearance of more than 3000 territorial grid organizations (TGO). They all are very different. There are good technically equipped facilities with responsible and competent staff, but there are completely hopeless amorphous entities which do not have anything but the desire to make money. To bring order to the TGO required Russian President Vladimir Putin at one meeting.
TGO is a mirror of the power system for the customer, said a member of the Federation Council on Economic Policy, Victor Rogotskiy. – Many small TGOs are not able to provide quality services to customers, while demanding full payment for them. How to fix the situation? First of all, it is necessary to put a legislative barrier to uncontrolled growth of TGOs, impose standards and stringent process requirements for territorial organizations. It is also necessary to secure strategic and local energy borders, strengthen the role of the State in the distribution power network and to ban the sale of electricity network assets in retail. Many participants at the meeting discussed the topic how to set in order the patchy TGO system, consolidate risk territorial structures. The head of the «Electric networks» Expert Section, the President of the Municipal Power Supply Association «PROGRESSELEKTRO» Alexander Maslov said that there are three options for addressing the issue: integration of TGOs in JSC “Rosseti”, establishment of self-regulatory organizations (SROs) and transmission of TGOs to recently formed Ministry of construction and housing and public utilities of the Russian Federation (in essence, it is a return to the Soviet structure of public energy service). All options have their pros and cons but the third might be the most viable option if it is approached professionally.
As pointed out by energy experts, the most severe situation is in low voltage networks. They are funded by the residual principle and are mostly in disrepair. But well-being and quality of life of each Russian citizen definitely depend on these networks. It is necessary to introduce a new criteria for distribution power network development, – said a member of the Board of Directors of the CG “Complex Energy Solutions» Boris Mekhanoshin. This will turn the tide in the sector. The expert made a number of innovative proposals for the construction and upgrading of power grids aimed at reducing costs and improving the efficiency of the distribution system.
Member of the JSC FGC UES Expert Council Valentin Sloyev focused on the risks and problems involved in the privatization of power network, a member of «Electric networks» expert section, a member of the Strategy Committee under the Board of Directors of OJSC “Rosseti” Victor Kudriaviy offered the most effective task-oriented scheme for power network functioning.
Power sector has accumulated a lot of problems, enough for a decade to solve. It takes only high-class professionals to solve them. But where will we get professional specialists? Are our universities able to provide industry with qualified staff? What challenges does higher technical school face? How much attention do electricity companies pay to improve the educational level of their staff? This was related by Professor of the Ural Federal University, member of the Russian Academy of Engineering Sciences, a member of the International Association of Electrical Engineers Petr Bartholomey, a member of the «Electric Networks» expert section, Deputy Head of Department «Electrical Power Systems» of Moscow Power Engineering Institute Vladimir Tulskiy, Rector of Federal State Educational Establishment Professor Alexander Nazarychev, Deputy Head of HR and organizational design of JSC «FGC UES» Elena Filippova.
As representatives of higher education institutions emphasized the current government policy on technical education jeopardizes the entire system of engineering and technical training. If this problem is not urgently solved at the legislative level, then in 10-15 years we will remain without any technical university. And then all the issues that have been so hotly debated at today’s meeting will be discussed with no one. And the industry will not be able to measure up the task.
“Our expert section pays special attention to the problems of technical education, – said A. Maslov. – And we will continue to work actively in this direction, basing on close cooperation with representatives of higher education”.
Read the full report on the meeting of the expert section on the pages of the magazine «ELECTRIC POWER. Transmission & distribution. «