Renewable energy: priorities, human resources, laws

A strategic session on this topic took place within the RENWEX 2022 conference programme at Expocentre Fairgrounds. Representatives of the Russian State Duma, the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, relevant scientific and research centres, leading universities and regional organisations attended the event. 

Opening the session, its moderator Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education, Chairman of the NTI Expo Organising Committee Vladimir Kononov noted that the RENWEX exhibition was held for the third year and now it had an increasing emphasis on electric transport. He also reminded that RENWEX is a part of the big project NTI Expo (Research-Technology-Innovations Expo), which turned six years old this year. 

"We organised it jointly with the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and EXPOCENTRE AO. NTI Expo includes five such major congress and exhibition events. In April, we traditionally hold Russian Week of High Technologies. During its four days, all the pavilions are filled with a very interesting exposition of those involved in software, the development of the digital economy, everything related to high technology. In June it is RENWEX. Renewable Energy and Electric Vehicles. In October, together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, we organise Russian Industry Week. In November, together with Sberbank, we organise the Artificial Intelligence Forum. And last December, NTI Expo included Russian Health Care Week," said the moderator. 

On behalf of EXPOCENTRE AO, First Deputy Director General Sergey Selivanov welcomed the participants to the event. "Today's session is dedicated to extremely topical issues for the industry, development prospects, staffing, and legislative support. It is gratifying that the higher education system pays great attention to participation in our exhibition. Among those represented are the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Moscow Polytechnic University, Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University, Institute of Solid State Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, and others", he said.

Sergey Selivanov thanked the universities for their interest in the RENWEX project, for demonstration at the exhibition both educational programmes and scientific and technological solutions in the field of green energy and alternative transport. 

He also noted that, despite the difficult times and the withdrawal of many foreign equipment manufacturers from the Russian market, this did not affect the scale of the RENWEX exhibition. The exhibition did not shrink and became even somewhat larger than last year. In particular, the Electric Transport and Charging Infrastructure Salon has expanded. This shows that the RENWEX project is a sought-after tool among exhibitors, both in promoting their products and in re-establishing broken supply chains and cooperative relationships. "But the exhibition is not just for exhibitors. Yesterday, there were 40% more visitors than in 2021," stated the first deputy head of EXPOCENTRE AO.

Irina Arefieva, Director of the Administrative Department of the Ministry of Energy, who spoke at the session, said that the Ministry is now considering various mechanisms to support green generation, taking into account the balance of all interests - of both producers and consumers.

Kirill Borisov, Deputy Director of the Department of State Scientific and Technical Policy of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, speaking about state support measures for development of renewable energy technologies, in particular, noted that youth laboratories aimed at development of renewable energy sources (RES) are being created with participation of the ministry. This will involve cooperation between educational institutions, businesses and scientific organisations.

There was also a great deal of interest among participants in the session, as representatives of energy-related universities spoke about the training processes for renewable energy specialists.