Assessment of potentials and cost of renewable energy sources in the Murmansk region of Russia

Abstract

Russia is rich in mineral resources and fossil fuels. Resources are distributed disproportionately on the territory of Russia; hence some regions are strongly dependent on imported fuels. Furthermore, there are cases where there is no infrastructure for the delivery of natural gas, thus liquid oil is used as the main energy source. This has negative economic and environmental impacts - it causes a substantial amount of greenhouse gas emissions, associated with the actual burning of fossil fuels as well as with the transport of these fuels. At the same time, the regions with little or no fossil fuels potentially have their own sources of energy; such as biomass, wind, solar, hydro and etc. Therefore, every region in Russia should be researched to identify the potential of the locally available renewable energy sources to decrease the dependence on the imported fuels; releasing some of the economic and environmental pressure. The selected region of Murmansk strongly depends on imported heavy oil for heat generation. Considering the harsh and cold climate of the region, where number of days require heating up to 350 days in some locations and on average for the region its 280 days, thus it is crucial to have sustainable heating system by decreasing the dependence on imported oil as a heating fuel. To explain precisely regional need in heating, the average heating degree days for Murmansk city (not the coldest location), and considering the outside temperature as 15,5 0C as minimum temperature after which the heating is required the heating degree days indicator is 5676 HDD, accordingly, (Degreedays, 2015). From the assessment made, it can be concluded that heating generation facilities based on biomass are not economically feasible in the absence of dedicated financial support. Overall, these can cover up to 7% of the total regional heating demand in 2030. For electricity demand the analysis shows that apart from hydropower and tidal all renewable energy sources reviewed in this thesis were found not to be economically feasible under current market and framework conditions. However, considering that Russia has implemented a law establishing investment grants for hydro, solar and wind energy in the electricity sector wind energy is feasible under the certain conditions. Russia has vast territory with various climate conditions and different types of energy sources. Some of these regions are rich with traditional fuels, while others are rich with biomass and/or wind energy. This abundance of natural resources calls for an analysis of the sources available in the different regions of Russia, as this would be useful to optimize energy systems, which can potentially lead to better economical as well as social aspects and better life quality.