Aisen Nikolaev speaks at Russian Energy Week session

Aisen Nikolaev, head of Yakutia and chair of the State Council commission on energy, took part in a session of the international forum Russian Energy Week, devoted to the efficiency of energy generation. The event was organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia and moderated by its president, Sergey Katyrin.

Nikolaev said coal generation, which provides about 42% of energy supply in Siberia and the Far East, needs technological upgrading, including in new coal power plants. He said this would reduce fuel use and production costs and significantly improve the environment. He also pointed to digital transformation, artificial intelligence and robotics as tools for optimising production.

To keep electricity costs at acceptable levels, Nikolaev proposed standard design solutions and long-term orders for energy equipment. He identified financing and investment-return mechanisms as a systemic barrier. According to the commission's view, energy infrastructure should be built through special project financing with preferential lending terms, since lending for such facilities at current rates is impossible. Only synchronising technological progress with affordable financial tools, he said, would lower costs.