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- Market settings: The Ministry of Energy will change the payment mechanism for some consumers
Market settings: The Ministry of Energy will change the payment mechanism for some consumers
The Ministry of Energy plans to apply the principle of mandatory payment regardless of actual consumption (take or pay) to new subscribers of the electricity market, whose connection provides for a capacity of at least 670 kW, the ministry said. Izvestia investigated why this change is necessary and what consequences it can lead to.
The essence of the changes
The key task of switching to the "take or pay" model is to reduce the amount of reserved but not actually in demand capacity, Tatiana Tirskikh, Managing Director for Sovereign and Regional Ratings at Expert RA agency, explained to Izvestia.
— In practice, large enterprises often set overestimated indicators during technological connection, then using only a part of the declared resource, — the expert specified. — At the same time, network organizations are forced to keep this reserve and maintain the infrastructure for it, incurring additional costs. As a result, these costs are transferred to tariffs and paid by all market participants.
The new approach should shift responsibility for the accuracy of calculations onto the business itself, she noted. Even with minimal consumption, the company will pay for the amount of electricity transmission assigned to it in advance.
This will encourage consumers to plan more realistically and enable grid companies to build investment and infrastructure plans more efficiently, reducing congestion in the energy system. An additional effect will be the release of limited capacity in energy-deficient regions: the situation when one participant holds a reserve, blocking the connection of other projects, will disappear.
— For large industrial consumers, this means increased financial responsibility and increased risks. Errors in forecasting capacity needs will have a direct impact on costs, as you will have to pay for unused resources," she said.
At the same time, in her opinion, the measure may be positive for the energy system as a whole. A more complete utilization of the existing infrastructure will allow connecting new consumers without large-scale construction of new network facilities, which in the future may slow down the growth of tariffs.
In addition, businesses may need to review regional and corporate strategies, optimize energy consumption more actively, and implement energy-efficient solutions and storage systems to avoid the cost of idle capacity.
In practice, it often happens that large new subscribers use only a fifth or a third of the agreed capacity, Ivan Abramov, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy and Senator from the Amur Region, told Izvestia. The introduction of this approach is aimed at reducing the gap between the requested and actually demanded energy resources.
"The take or pay model is widely used in international markets, and its adaptation to Russian conditions is related to the specifics of current regulation," the senator said. — Currently, grid companies are required to ensure that electricity can be transmitted within the stated limit at any time, however, payment for their services is based on current consumption, and not on the amount of reserved capacity.
As for the consequences, according to him, the energy grid complex will receive more predictable and stable cash receipts, which will increase its financial stability and reduce the likelihood of overloads. In the long term, this contributes to a more complete utilization of the existing infrastructure and a slowdown in tariff growth.
At the same time, consumers will be interested in specifying the really necessary power parameters during technological connection. However, for large companies, both new and already operating, this means an increase in electricity transmission costs, which can increase the burden on energy—intensive industries.
The take or pay model, which is already used in many countries, including China, India and Turkey, is being introduced to eliminate the imbalance, Petr Shcherbachenko, associate professor of Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the Financial University, added in an interview with Izvestia. Its purpose is to reduce the amount of unused reserves and force consumers to more accurately specify the power they need when connecting.
Cost reduction
It is indeed common in the Russian energy sector for future consumers to set excessive capacity parameters, Alexander Frolov, deputy head of the National Energy Institute, told Izvestia. For example, a company claims a demand of 10 MW, while the actual consumption subsequently does not exceed 5 MW. With the massive nature of such applications, an imbalance is formed, leading to the appearance of excess volumes both in generation and in the grid economy.
— In other words, in response to the planned demand, money is being invested in infrastructure for the production, transmission and distribution of electricity. If the real demand turned out to be lower, then part of the money is "invested in the void," the expert explained.
A significant part of the generating facilities in Russia were created back in the era of intensive industrial development of the Soviet Union, although they subsequently underwent stages of modernization and equipping with more modern technologies, economist Fyodor Shlyakhov, an expert in the Popular Front, told Izvestia. Analytics". In these circumstances, it is especially important to establish a transparent and accurate distribution of available reserve capacities among consumers.
—And in general, this encourages businesses to carefully evaluate production opportunities and their needs," he said. — And consumption and, consequently, the reserve of capacities should grow gradually, according to actual needs.
The purpose of the proposed changes is to reduce uncertainty for energy supply companies and ensure that the declared volumes of electricity will actually be in demand, Maxim Chirkov, associate professor of the Department of Economic Policy and Economic Measurements at GUU, confirmed to Izvestia. Building and maintaining capacities, especially for large consumers, requires significant capital expenditures, so such a mechanism can significantly reduce financial risks for suppliers.
In general, such a measure can be assessed positively, the expert believes. The approach to serving household consumers and to working with businesses should be objectively different. Commercial structures benefit from relatively cheap electricity, using it as a profit-making factor, so additional obligations look reasonable. Moreover, electricity tariffs in Russia, compared with many other countries, remain at a fairly low level.
Nevertheless, negative effects are also possible, Stanislav Guzhov, an associate professor at the Faculty of Management at the Presidential Academy's Institute of Management, told Izvestia. For energy-intensive enterprises, it means an increase in mandatory payments if the actual consumption is lower than stated. In a competitive environment, this can increase the cost of production and worsen the position of individual companies in the market.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Energy, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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