INNOVATIONS IN THE ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY: TYPES, CLASSIFICATION AND EFFECTS OF IMPLEMENTATION

Abstract

In the global energy system, the fight against climate change, meeting the growing demand for electricity, using the opportunities gained through the fourth industrial revolution and affecting all sectors of the economy and the related qualitative changes in the characteristics of electricity demand become extremely urgent. In recent years, the general pace of innovation has been growing, while introducing innovation in the energy sector has become a complex long-term challenge. Digitalization of the electric power industry in Russia is one of the key objectives of the industry development. The purpose of this study is to consider the existing classification of innovations from the standpoint of the electric power industry and to determine what qualitative and quantitative effects the introduction of innovations in the Russian electric power industry gives. To calculate the effects, we used data from Federal State Statistics Service and the Russian Energy Agency, as well as annual public reports of the System Operator and data provided by NP «Market Council». An assessment is made based on optimistic and pessimistic scenarios. As the first, the highest values were taken, as the second – the lowest values according to experts' forecasts. First proposed classification of types of innovations in the electric power industry related to changes in technology and changes in the market. The effects of each type of innovation are also calculated. The paper concludes that the effects of innovations due to changes in technology are more influential than innovations due to changes in the market.