The directive was issued following a meeting held as part of the Eastern Economic Forum and must be taken into account in drafting the general scheme for siting electricity facilities through 2042, the newspaper's sources said.
Market participants do not know why China was chosen as the benchmark, Kommersant reported. Experts note that China is one of the main competitors to Russia's energy-intensive industry, and that electricity prices for its enterprises are among the lowest in the world after Russia's.
Building 88.5 GW of new capacity and modernizing 66.4 GW will cost about 40 trillion rubles. A further 17 trillion rubles, according to Kommersant, will be needed for investment in trunk power lines and distribution grids.
New capacity is currently built through targeted surcharges on the wholesale energy market, which raise final prices for consumers. According to the Energy Ministry's estimate, under this scheme the price will rise from 6.4 rubles per 1 kWh in 2024 to 12.8 rubles by 2042.
The price increase could hit energy-intensive industries hardest. Analysts estimate that electricity accounts for 25-30% of the cost of aluminum, 30-40% of ferroalloys and more than 10% of chemical industry products. Rising energy prices could reduce the competitiveness of Russian enterprises, including relative to Chinese manufacturers.
The Energy Ministry expects to hold down electricity costs by reforming the sector. The ministry proposes creating Rosenergoproekt, which would coordinate the construction of energy facilities and control pricing. Preferential lending for energy projects and changes to the mechanisms for financing power grids are also under consideration.