Innovation

Nowadays, the problem of safe and green energy production from renewable sources is among the most crucial ones in the world. Rosatom, as a very conscious business with purpose, puts much effort into providing people with safe energy in 50+ countries. Despite the fact that this company is one of the most prominent suppliers of atomic energy, it was decided to be considered green, according to the provisions from 06-07-2022 by the European Parliament. Rosatom continuously seeks for new opportunities to develop as a business with purpose.

In 2008, the Russian government, after an open question session with the President of the country, Vladimir Putin, encouraged the biggest players of the energy sector to develop sustainable sources of energy. At that time, atomic energy was not considered as a green one and companies had to seek new opportunities. Despite the fact that Rosatom has always been a business with purpose, this obligation has bolstered company’s effort to become even greener and more sustainable. One of the most perspective fields is the wind energy sector. Under the influence of the wind stream, the vanes of the wind power station begin to spin and transit the torque to the electric generator and accumulates there. The electricity further spreads via circuit network to the consumption sources. This way of energy generation is one of the purest in terms of its impact on the environment. As stated by our interviewee Dr. Renata Faizova: “Construction of a Wind Power Station (WPS) gives us the opportunity to decrease CO2 emission 3 times faster than construction of nuclear power plants, which is considered one of the purest energy sources.”

The WPS in action

Inspiration

“I work in Rosatom for 2 years and I’ve been surprised how much effort does the company put into being sustainable in all possible ways. All the stakeholders, both internal and external, are the purpose we work for,” shared with us Dr. Renata Faizova. Science and the keen human mind are the main sources of inspiration for the company. Its mission is to serve people with the cutting-edge science achievements. Rosatom understands its scale (presence in 50+ countries and more than 300,000 employees) and its responsibility to the humanity, which is why Rosatom joined the UN Global Compact network in 2020 to unite the best talents all over the world and to lead the mankind for the brighter future.

“We can’t leave this planet in ruins for the future generations. They deserve to enjoy this beautiful place as much as we do. We have to “infest” different communities with the green values “washing away” everything that is not green from the business we do,” emphasized Renata. WPS are the great examples of real actions aimed to achieve the mission stated above. They not only generate affordable, green energy but also use green materials like ecological steel with as little carbon footprint as possible. According to Renata: "The idea is not only to be sustainable by ourselves but to localize the Agenda 2030 with all of our stakeholders".

Overall impact

Electricity is generated at the Adygea Wind Farm, which is located in the south of Russia, in the vicinity of Krasnodar, the largest WPS in the country as of 2022. The Adygea Wind Farm is the first stage of wind farms built by Rosatom within the framework of the 1GV wind capacity construction program implemented in accordance with the law imposed by the Russian government aimed to improve overall energy efficiency of the electric power industry based on the use of renewable energy sources. The generated energy is then supplied to responsible businesses, which are interested in the increase of their sustainable standards operations and production of goods with little carbon footprint in their value chain.

One of the major consumers of the clean energy produced by the Adygea Wind Farm is Nestle Russia, which expects to receive the following positive environmental effects:

• reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by 20.5 thousand tons per year;

• contribution to the implementation of Nestle's global commitment to minimize the environmental impact of production activities by 2030;

• compliance with environmental safety standards, namely the requirements of RE100 (RE100 is a global corporate initiative in the field of renewable energy, uniting hundreds of companies committed exclusively to renewable electricity).

Rosatom plans to increase the capacity of the power plant by 2032. In cooperation with Gazprombank, they target to launch a new WPS with supplement of the energy by the end of 2022. The projected capacity of the new plant is 340 MW with compliance to the following sustainable production goals:

• generation of 2.7 thousand GWh or more of renewable energy at wind farm facilities;

• share of environmentally conscious suppliers of wind power plant components certified according to ISO 9001 is at least 70%;

• maintenance of the safe and clean environment in the local communities next to the WPP facilities.

Business benefit

Considering the size of the company, it is reasonable to diversify its business in order to become more sustainable. “Rosatom has an Open Strategy 2030, which speaks specifically about diversification. 40% of revenue by 2030 should be generated by new businesses that do not exist yet. Rosatom has separate businesses with a focus on nuclear medicine, another one with a digital technologies that has nothing to do with energy,” states Dr. Faizova. The company cannot just put all the eggs into one basket so Rosatom explores all possible options. Nonetheless, energy generation remains its core business but it's wise not to focus only on the nuclear energy. And in this situation WPS comes to the spotlight.

Given the fact that share of energy generated by WPS grows all over the world, especially in China with the increase by 5.1 GW in the first half of 2022. Rosatom, which builds strong relationships with different stakeholders around the world has an opportunity to increase its global presence even more. Given the fact that construction of WPS is three times smaller than construction of a nuclear plant and carries significantly fewer risks (e.g. nuclear accidents, risk of cancer), which requires thorough governmental monitoring in any country, it is expected to bring substantial business benefits to the company. It may also influence the image of the company and attract partners that use green energy. The prospects of the domestic market are encouraging, too. As Dr. Faizova says: “The aim is to raise the market share of WPS in Russia from 0.5% as of now to 2.5% by 2030.”

Social and environmental benefit

Rosatom sets itself the task not only of introducing a green agenda within the company, but also of «infecting» the wider society with ripple effects Rosatom creates with its sustainability agenda. Thus, the educational and outreach activities with the local communities are carried out at the sites of the construction of the wind farms, within which the importance of observing ESG principles is conveyed to people. Rosatom conducts training courses in many schools in order to instill the values of sustainability in the younger generation. Rosatom trains its employees, forming a culture of responsibility to the environment and to every human being. Special online courses play an important role in this. The development of this educational ecosystem and the coverage of a significant proportion of the company's employees is an achievement that Dr. Faizova is particularly proud of. She says: "The creation of a professional community through training on such a scale is a particularly difficult task. At the end of the year, within 7-8 months, about 50,000 people were involved in our educational activities."

The societal benefit of building a wind farm is to replace traditional methods of power generation from non-renewable sources. In the future, the company expects to reduce the number of less environmentally friendly sources of energy generation, which will certainly have a positive impact on the environment of the regions of its operations. Among other things, customers-buyers of clean energy are also transforming their business activities into more sustainable ones, allowing them to significantly influence local business practices, both in Russia and abroad.

Interview

Renata Faizova, Head of the Department of Research and Programs on Sustainable Development

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