OREANDA-NEWS. 21 October 2015 in Moscow the International Electric Power forum "RUGRIDS-ELECTRO. Russian Grids. New Opportunities" continued the work. The theme that dominated the second day of the Forum was the plenary session dedicated to electric power megaprojects, and Russia's role in the creation of an energy corridor between Europe and Asia.

In the new geo-economic reality there is an active development and strengthening of partnership of Russia and the Asia-Pacific region, where in recent decades the centre of world trade and investment has shifted. Russia stands as the main land (Trans-Siberian), sea (North Sea Route) and energy corridor between East Asia and Europe, which allows it to play a leading role in the implementation of transnational mega-projects. Striving for development and competitiveness of the energy infrastructure in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, our country can engage in transnational technological alliances, perspectives of which were discussed at the plenary session of the Forum "RUGRIDS-ELECTRO".

The plenary session "Electric power megaprojects - do we need modernization technological alliances?" was attended by:

- First Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Alexey Teksler,

- First Deputy General Director of PJSC "Rosseti" Roman Berdnikov,

- State Duma Deputy, member of the Committee on Energy Sergey Esyakov,

- Deputy CEO of the State Grid Corporation of China Luan Jiang,

- General Director of the Institute of Energy Strategy, D.Eng.Sc., Professor Vitaly Bushuyev,

- Vice-President of "Power" Unit of Schneider Electric in Russia and CIS Ivan Makarin,

- President of Panasonic Russia Junichi Suzuki,

- Co-founder of the technopark "Sofia Antipolis", Founder of Club de Nice, Chairman of the Russian Technology Fund Dominique Fache.

The moderator of the session was a senior partner at McKinsey & Co, Stepan Solzhenitsyn.

Mega-projects in the power industry are major export projects, energy bridges over very long distances, the development of energy infrastructure for mega-projects in the Far East, under a new configuration of trade routes, new transport ways.

Experts predict that by 2035 the share of the Asia-Pacific region in the world energy consumption will grow by more than 8% compared with 2010.

The participants of the plenary noted that in conditions of maximum diversification of political and economic ties between Russia and the Asia-Pacific region there is no shortage of pulses to cooperate on the part of the government.

Alexey Teksler also called the project "Asian Super Energy Ring" as promising, which involves interconnection of Russia, China, Japan, Mongolia and South Korea. Potential volumes intersystem flows of the "Asian Super Energy Ring" could reach more than 15 GW. The Japanese party studies the possibility of creating an energy bridge of Russia (Sakhalin island) - Japan (Hokkaido island). Export potential of the project is up to 20 billion kWh per year. Construction of the energy bridge "Russia - the Korean Peninsula" is being discussed with Korean partners. The project involves the connection of power systems of Russia and the Republic of Korea with a power line of high transmission capacity through the DPRK.

"Ultimately, the development of energy projects in the Far East and Eastern Siberia and cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region will contribute to the development of the industrial potential of Russia, the creation of new forms of interstate cooperation in the energy sector," stressed Deputy Minister.

Ambitious goals, for which mega-projects are created, involve the use of new technologies. Experts of "RUGRIDS-ELECTRO" addressed the issue of technological readiness of Russia and the Asia-Pacific countries to implement such complex and large-scale infrastructure projects. First Deputy General Director of PJSC "Rosseti" Roman Berdnikov is optimistic: "I do not see any technical problems in the transmission of energy over long distances: from two to four gigawatts can work. The Chinese partners are open to dialogue, the integration process is going," he stressed.

Deputy CEO of the State Grid Corporation of China Luan Jiang supported his Russian counterpart: "Ten years ago, China's power line was only a few hundred kilometres. As the branch developed power lines of 500 kV DC or AC no longer satisfied the needs of the economy," he said. "Modern 1,000 kV ultra-high voltage lines allow to transmit electricity at long distances."

Another interesting and important aspect is the economy of mega-projects, their ability to attract interested investors and bring real benefits to all participants. To implement never-before-seen unprecedented objectives it also requires synergy of political, scientific and industrial capacities of the participating countries. The discussion moderator stressed the geopolitical aspect: "The grid can be global, but not for the sake of gigantism, but for a fundamental change in the fuel balance in the world," stressed a senior partner of McKinsey Stepan Solzhenitsyn. Are today's largest infrastructure organizations, equipment manufacturers, research institutes ready to form workable modernization technology alliances, without which the implementation of strategic electricity megaprojects is impossible? The participants of the plenary session studied the results of cooperation between Russia, Europe and Northeast Asia in terms of the development of integrated technological solutions for energy mega-projects, and discussed the prospects for the continuation of such cooperation. "The integration and interconnectedness have already happened," stated Vice-President of "Power" Unit of Schneider Electric in Russia and CIS Ivan Makarin.

Finally, at the plenary discussion Alexey Teksler awarded winners of the contest "Best in Profession" in the energy sector within the framework of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

The business program of the second day of the Forum and Exhibition "RUGRIDS-ELECTRO" also included: All-Russian Regional Conference "Energy and Resources"; Communications Forum "New features in the development of strategic communications in the electricity industry in today's market"; Round Table "Directions of import substitution in the power grid industry"; Round Table "National Projects as a tool for the transition to an innovation economy. The goals, objectives, mechanisms of implementation"; Conference "Application of advanced development of cable products for power grid facilities of Russia"; Open Dialogue "Procurement of an electric grid company"; Partner Magazine Event "Energy Expert" "Power transformers: operation, diagnostics, repair and life extension", as well as a roundtable of participating teams of IYF at SPIEF 2015, which brought together young power engineers from Russia, Germany, China and France.

22 October at the Moscow "Expocentre" the work of the largest in the electricity industry Forum and Exhibition "RUGRIDS-ELECTRO" will continue.

Organizers of "RUGRIDS-ELECTRO. Russian Grids. New Opportunities" thank the official partners and sponsors of the event: JSC "Energostroy - MN", JSC "Energomera", "SAP CIS" LLC, Group of Companies "Tavrida Electric", JSC "Schneider Electric", "ABB" LLC, Hitachi Ltd., GC "TEKON", FIRM "1C", Fund "Skolkovo", CJSC "FPG ENERGOKONTRAKT", HUAWEI Technologies Co., Ltd., GC Technoserv, RENAULT RUSSIA, "Nissan Manufacturing RUS" LLC, VOLKSWAGEN Group Rus, JSC Ryazan State Instrument-making Enterprise, JSC "SpetsAvtoInzhiniring", "Ensto Rus" LLC, JSC "NIC UES".

The International Electric Power Forum "Rugrids-Electro" is held annually and gathers together leading Russian and international experts in the field of electricity. The event brings together the experience and the best traditions of the two leading international industry events - the exhibition Electro, conducted since 1972, and the International Electric Power Forum "Rugrids - Innovation in the Electric Power Industry". Organizers are PJSC "Rosseti" and "Expocentre", under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.