Russian ministry tables draft resolution on selection of hydro, pumped-storage projects under investment return mechanism
MOSCOW. Oct 5 (Interfax) - Russia's Energy Ministry has published a draft government resolution to determine the procedure for raising and recouping investment in the construction of new hydro and pumped-storage power plants under the capacity supply agreement (CSA) mechanism, which provides for a return on investment through payments from the wholesale energy market, on the federal website for draft laws and regulations.
CSAs will be signed with investors following tenders to select projects to build hydropower plants (HPP) and pumped-storage hydropower plants (PSHPP). Tenders will be held for each specific site for the deployment of an HPP included in the updated General Plan for Placement of Electricity Infrastructure, a memo attached to the draft resolution said.
The selection criterion will be the minimum flat-rate price for electricity and capacity. The technical and economic parameters of a project declared by the investor will be approved by a decision of the Russian government, the document said.
The document concerns HPP and PSHPP projects that are scheduled to go into operation in 2030 or later, the draft states.
Russia currently has several mechanisms to finance electricity projects with payments from large industrial consumers, but HPP projects were selected only in tenders for renewable energy facilities with capacity of up to 25 MW.
RusHydro hopes that a decision on financing the construction of HPPs through the CSA mechanism will be made before the end of 2026, the company's deputy CEO, Roman Berdnikov said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in early September.
RusHydro said at the forum that it was continuing to work on the design documentation for the Nizhne-Zeiskaya HPP, but that the completion of the designs and submission of materials to state expert review office Glavgosexpertiza depended directly on the government making a decision to split measures to build hydraulic structures and create reservoirs into separate stages of construction.
Construction could actually begin after a mechanism is determined for the guaranteed return of investment and amendments are made to regulations on the preparation of the reservoir bed, the company said.
Berdnikov said in May 2025 that RusHydro had begun to design the Nizhne-Zeiskaya HPP and recalled that the company was already carrying out six thermal power projects in the Far East that would start to see a return on investment in 2028.
"Therefore, probably, when the return [of investment] happens, we can manage one [HPP] on our own, but that's the maximum we can manage," Berdnikov said at the time.
The 428 MW Nizhne-Zeiskaya HPP in Amur Region is tentatively expected to go into operation in 2032, RusHydro said earlier in the presentation to the Federation Council.
En+ Group has also considered building new large HPPs. The company signed an agreement with the government of Buryatia at the 2024 EEF on the construction of the two plants on the Vitim River in Buryatia - the 1.2 GW Mokskaya HPP and its reregulating dam, the 210 MW Ivanovskaya HPP.
