RusHydro power plants in the Far East may suffer losses due to rising coal prices
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As Kommersant found out, RusHydro power plants in the Far East may again suffer losses this year due to rising coal prices. The company’s tariff revenue, according to Kommersant, will not cover 3.7 billion rubles. actual costs of purchasing fuel for electricity production. The Federation Council proposes to compensate RusHydro for this amount from the federal budget, so as not to increase electricity tariffs for businesses in the region. The industry proposes to solve the problem by regulating coal prices, which, according to experts, will continue to rise.
At the end of 2023, RusHydro power plants in the Far East will again not be able to cover the costs of purchasing increasingly expensive coal and other fuels from tariff revenues, several sources in the industry and regulators told Kommersant and were confirmed by the state holding. The volume of lost income at the end of the year, according to Kommersant’s information, will be about 3.7 billion rubles. RusHydro told Kommersant that they would determine the exact amount of lost revenue after the end of the year.
The government is already discussing possible sources of compensation. The Federation Council proposed that the government “consider the issue” of allocating them from the federal budget “in order to maintain electricity tariffs within inflation limits.” Such a recommendation is contained in the Federation Council resolution “On current issues in the development of the fuel and energy complex,” prepared after the speech of Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak at the “government hour” (Kommersant has the document dated December 7).
The Ministry of Energy explained to Kommersant that a decision on compensation from budget funds has not been made at the moment. “At the launch of a competitive electricity market in the Far East (scheduled for July 2024.— “Kommersant”) lost income will not be generated, these risks will be shared by generators and fuel suppliers,” the ministry added.
The FAS told Kommersant that they have not yet received RusHydro’s proposals on the amount of shortfall in fuel revenues for 2023. These lost revenues can be taken into account when setting tariffs for 2025, the service noted.
The problem of losses at thermal power plants in the Far East has existed for many years: the regulator in electricity tariffs strictly fixes the amount of company expenses for the purchase of coal, but coal is traded at free prices and actual expenses may not coincide with those included in the tariff. After the head of the state holding RusHydro, Viktor Khmarin, addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin, the government agreed to increase electricity tariffs for industry in the region to compensate for the accumulated losses of the state holding. In 2023, the single-rate price for electricity (includes the price of capacity and the price of actually generated kilowatt-hours) in the Far East increased by an average of 50% year-on-year. The one-part price (without exports) with a cumulative total from January to October 2023 amounted to 2.68 rubles. for 1 kWh, the Market Council (the energy market regulator) told Kommersant.
RusHydro explained to Kommersant that the total amount of lost revenues of the company as of 2023 is 21 billion rubles, of which 17.3 billion rubles are lost revenues for 2022, formed mainly due to rising prices for coal, and 3.7 billion rubles are uncompensated lost income from 2011–2019. They should be included in tariffs for 2024, which will be set at the end of December.
The Community of Energy Consumers (unites industrial consumers of electricity) believes that compensating for the price rally in the coal market through the budget or increasing tariffs is “not the best idea”: “Since the energy security of the Far East is not a question of the market, following its example It is justifiable for other industries to be addressed through special pricing for domestic coal supplies.”
Independent industrial expert Maxim Shaposhnikov notes that, given the increase in quotations for thermal coal in ports to $100–110 per ton, the price for thermal power plants in the Far East could reach 3–3.4 thousand rubles. per ton. Last year, the average price level in the Russian Federation was 2.4–2.6 thousand rubles. Next year, the analyst expects prices to continue rising.
Director of the Center for Research in the Electric Power Industry at the National Research University Higher School of Economics Sergei Sasim notes that there is nothing unusual in the current situation: “Much will depend on the configuration of the market in the Far East and the ability to compensate for these expenses for past periods outside the budgetary system (for example, through a premium to the price of power) ” At the same time, the final decision, Mr. Sasim is sure, will depend on the acceptable level of price burden and budget planning priorities for 2025.
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