Innovations

Innovative activity means development and implementation of new mechanisms to use knowledge, tangible and intangible assets, which allow bringing the production process to a higher level and improving the products’ quality. The application of innovative practices and technologies ensures an increase in productivity and minimization of negative ecological impacts.

The innovative development of RusHydro is focused on increasing the reliability of hydraulic facilities, energy efficiency and the use of new renewable energy sources. For the Group, innovations are the key to the modernization of existing hydropower facilities, as well as to the construction of new ones with improved technical characteristics.

Innovative development management

The RusHydro Group's innovation management system includes the following subsystems/management areas:

The main document that determines the innovative development of PJSC RusHydro and its subsidiaries is the RusHydro Group's Innovative Development Program for 2016-2020 with a prospect for up to 2025 (IDP). It outlines the main KPIs of the RusHydro's innovation activities, contains information on priority innovative development areas and key innovative projects. In order to determine the list of activities for each year, a three-year Medium-Term IDP Implementation Plan is adopted and updated annually. There is also a Roadmap for the implementation of the IDP projects.

In turn, on June 29, 2016, the Board of Directors of PJSC RAO ES East approved its own

Innovative Development Program for 2016-2020 with the prospect for up to 2025. It was agreed and finalized taking into account the comments of the relevant ministries within the framework of the working group meeting chaired by A.L. Texler, the First Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.

Innovative development programs of RusHydro and RAO ES East are synchronized in terms of implementation of the integrated KPI for innovation (value for 2016 is 85%), which includes the following indicators:

Integral KPI of the innovation activity of RusHydro and RAO ES East

In 2016, the innovative development management systems of RusHydro Group and RAO ES East were merged into PJSC RusHydro due to the optimization of the Far Eastern energy management.

Development of renewable energy

One of the tasks of RusHydro Group’s Innovative Development Program for 2016-2020 with the perspective for up to 2025 is to increase energy efficiency through the use of alternative renewable energy sources.

The concept of renewable energy sources (RES) includes such forms of energy as solar, geothermal, wind, energy of sea waves, currents, tides and ocean energy, biomass energy, hydropower and other types of renewable energy.

RES can be divided into two groups:

At this moment, RusHydro Group continues to develop wind, solar and geothermal energy. Most of such projects belong to isolated areas that are not part of the unified energy system. As the previous decades show, the use of solar and wind energy technologies can bring economic benefits by reducing consumption of the expensive imported diesel fuel.

Over the past five years, the Group has launched 16 solar stations with the capacity of 1.47 MW and three wind stations with the capacity of 2.2 MW in Yakutia. The total volume of investments in projects amounted to 845.7 million rubles. Savings on diesel fuel are 1,773 tons per year.

Due to the peculiarities of each settlement, all implemented projects are unique, including the northernmost solar station of 1 MW in the village Batagay. Thanks to the station, annual savings of diesel fuel will be about 300 tons. While working in Yakutia, RusHydro developed its own models for wind-diesel and solar-diesel complexes, tested various options for equipment, including power storage in isolated energy areas.