The development of the IT industry in the countries of Eurasia leads to a digital transformation and the most conservative spheres of the economy. One of the main spheres is energy, which, in combination with new technologies, completely changes the idea of how to generate, store, distribute energy and lead Eurasia after Europe toward a “green future”. The prospects for the development of “new energy” were discussed at StrategEast.Live panel “Smart solutions in the energy sector”.
Volodymyr Buchyk, Director at the Department of Strategic Development, State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine, spoke about the situation with clean energy in Ukraine: “Today, 7.5 gigawatts of clean energy are generated in Ukraine. Over the past 5 years, the share of clean energy in our generation has doubled. Two years ago, Ukraine adopted a law on the energy market. To stimulate the production of green energy, we introduced special tariffs for renewable energy and two years ago introduced an auction system in which solar and wind power plants participate. The winners receive government guarantees for 20 years. ”
Most of Georgia’s renewable energy is generated by hydroelectric power plants, says Tornike Kazarashvili, Head of Energy Policy and Investment Projects Department at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, but now wind and solar power plants are being built, in which we see great potential. This will help in realizing our main goal – to reduce electricity imports from neighboring countries, become energy independent and provide energy security.
“Kazakhstan plans to increase the share of profitable energy from the current 3% to 50% by 2050,” says Baltugan Tazhmakina, Head of the division of RES Department, Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. “Over the past 7 years we have already increased this share in 6 times, and the number of facilitations for the production of renewable energy increased from 26 to 117.”
“Today Kazakhstan is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, it is clear that new sources of energy are needed for growth and it is nice to hear that despite the fact that the country has significant mineral resources at its disposal, Kazakhstan is developing green energy,” noted panel moderator Tea Avazashvili, the Energy Expert at the EBRD project, previously the Head of Sectoral Development Division at Energy Reforms and Projects Department of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.
Answering the moderator’s question on the role of SMEs in the production of green energy, Mr. Buchyk said that Ukraine will introduce a special tariff of 16 Eurocents per kilowatt for small green energy producers in Ukraine, which is a significant figure even in world standards. As a result, private households launched 226 solar stations.
Answering the question about the contribution of the IT industry to the development of green energy, Ms. Tazhmakina spoke about the Kazakh start-up project for the management of green energy in smart homes, which will significantly reduce the energy consumption of households.
StrategEast.Live is a series of online panel discussions launched by StrategEast in 2020 to continue the conversation on how technology can lead to an overall transformation in Eurasia. During these events, the esteemed guests put forward ideas that facilitate the further development of a knowledge-driven economy in the region.
