Russia's energy ministry hopes to stimulate wind power investment through electricity supply contracts. The right to enter into such agreements will be awarded to projects on a competitive basis.
Such selection will take place each year and is expected to be completed by 30 June. The government plans to establish 150MW of installed wind power by 2014.
According to state plans, the contracts will be awarded on a cost basis. Another criterion is for a set level of turbine components to be supplied locally.
The ministry set out plans to increase Russia's wind manufacturing industry up until 2018. It wants the amount of locally sourced wind turbine components in its wind projects to rise from 25% in 2016 to 50% in 2018.
Russian expansion
The government plans follow the announcement that German SoWiTec Group is looking at investing RUB 6 billion ($180 million) in the construction of a wind farm in eastern Russia.The new plant would have a capacity of up to 200MW and would be built by 2014-2015 in Yaroslavl Oblast.
f the plan comes to fruitition it could produce Russia's first major wind energy project. According to Windpower Monthly's Windicator, Russia only has 11MW of installed wind power capacity.
