On September, 17, seven contestant projects of the VIII Distributed Power Generation — Great Achievements International Award appeared at the public review at the Startup Club’s online defense, dedicated to the projects of distributed power generation. The event arranged by the Distributed Power Generation Association, the All-Russia Public Organization Business Russia and the Center for Entrepreneurship was held in the Startup Huddle mode — online presentation of projects and their further inspection by leading industry experts and experienced entrepreneurs.

For the first time, contestant projects of the Distributed Power Generation — Great Achievements International Award were presented at an online public defense within the Startup Club of Business Russia. The main purpose of the event is to promote the innovative projects implemented in the field of distributed power generation to get an expert assessment and operational advice on further steps from leading industry experts, experienced enterprisers, investors, and representatives of specialized development institutions.

Maksim Zagornov, President of the Distributed Power Generation Association, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Distributed Power Generation of Business Russia, noticed that the field of distributed power generation is actively developing even in uncertainty conditions of the global economy. «Moreover, we are witnessing an increase in the demand for own generation facilities from the business side. Projects presented at the Startup Club demonstrated a variety of distributed power generation technologies, which are basically pilot, breaking through and solving numerous issues and marked with novelty; and in my opinion, they have great development potential», — Maksim Zagornov noted.

Members of the Award Expert Council took part as mentors in the pitch session of Startup Club, including Sergei Alekseenko, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Scientific Director of the Institute of Thermophysics, SB RAS, Dominique Fache, Board member at «KEGOC» JSC, Board member of the SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS Technopark, Board Chairman of the «RTF» Ltd., Sergei Semyonov, Vice President of Distributed Power Generation Association on Investments and International Cooperation, Anton Usachev, Director of Association of Solar Power Enterprises NPP, Alexey Khokhlov, Head of Power and Utilities, Energy Centre, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, Pavel Ilyushin, Vice-President of the Distributed Power Generation Association, Head of the RNС CIGRE C6 Active distribution systems and distributed energy resources Subcommittee, PhD in Technical Sciences, Pro-rector for Research at FSAEE AVE «PEIAT», Igor Yeltsov, Director of the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch of the RAS, Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor, Valeriy Kazeykin, First Vice-President of the International Association of Housing and Mortgage Lending Funds, Member of the Russian Federation Government Expert Council, Sergei Sarapulov, Director of the Ural Power Engineering Institute of the Ural Federal University named after Boris N. Yeltsin, Sergei Gandzha, Dean of the SUSU Power Engineering Faculty, Head of the «Theoretical Basics of Electrical Engineering» Department, Professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Vladislav Samoylenko, International representative of the Russian Federation in СIGRE responsible for the Active Distribution Systems and Distributed Energy Resources thread, PhD in Technical Sciences, associate professor of the Ural Federal University.

Also representatives of the following development institutions took part in the event: Industrial Development Fund, The Internet Initiatives Development Fund, Federal Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium-sized business, Russian Private Equity Fund, Skolkovo Foundation, Moscow export center; Authorities: Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation; State Corporations «Rostec» and «Rosatom». The total number of participants made up 97 people. The event was moderated by Dmitry Yagodkin, member of the expert council of the National Investment Attractiveness Rating of the Russian Federation, partner of CBI Pioneer.

During the pitch session, the authors of the projects were able to present their developments, communicate with potential investors and partners, and get recommendations on development of their projects from industry experts.

RusHydro PJSC — The project of solar energy generation at the site of Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP JSC

Vyacheslav Sladkevich, Technical director of Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP JSC, told about the project of the construction of a solar energy station with a capacity of 1.278 MW at the HPP site on the right bank of the Bureya River (Amur Region). The construction project provides for the installation of photovoltaic panels at 4 sites, as well as construction of an experimental floating modular solar power plant. In 2019 the first stage of the project was implemented. Applicability of floating modular technology was tested at the object for further replication at other sites of RusHydro PJSC. This project is experimental and currently the only one in Russia.

Volts Battery LLC — Home Energy Storage by VOLTS

Alexander Kayanitsa, General Director of Volts Battery, presented the project of home energy storage device, a modern integrated solution of guaranteed uninterrupted power supply to the site, to the experts. According to the developer, during accidents and surges in the network, the VOLTS storage, which switches automatically, becomes the main source of power supply for house. Modern lithium technologies, a boxed solution containing all the components inside — all of this makes the device as compact and simple as possible to integrate into existing sites. A designed capacity scaling system allows applying storage for various needs.

Kovrovskie Kotly Co. — Construction of boiler stations fueled with wooden pellets

Sergei Arefiev, director of Kovrovskie Kotly, presented to the experts the project of construction of a boiler station fueled with wooden pellets. Despite the fact that this technology is actively applied in Europe, Russian developers have introduced their own innovations: integrated automation and mechanization of solid fuel supply and combustion under combustion quality control in industrial pellet boilers for housing and public utilities. Wireless access to the boiler station control has been carried out and the procedure for full automation of heating the furnace part of a solid fuel boiler has been developed within the implemented projects as well, which has never been introduced on area of the Russian Federation before.

SOVTESTATE LLC — Autonomous Hydrogen Power Facilities (capacity up to 10 kW)

Denis Urmanov, Deputy General Director of SovtestATE, presented autonomous hydrogen of power capacity up to 10 kW. The project provides for the development and manufacturing of a prototype of an autonomous hydrogen power facility of 5 kW capacity for various consumers. Water-fuel emulsion allows to effectively generate clean energy from hydrogen through an electrochemical reaction at a relatively low temperature of ~ 60°С (without combustion). As opposed to other types of devices (internal combustion engines, turbine motor and others) autonomous hydrogen power facilities has minimal levels of noise and harmful emissions during operation, there is no strong vibration, high reliability is ensured, there is a possibility of long-term continuous autonomous operation in the 365 days / 24 hours mode. It can be used to provide effective stand-alone power generation.

Prodex Energy LLC — Torbeevo Solid Waste Landfill Active Degassing Station with Gas Genset Power Plant Fueled with Landfill Gas

Yuri Pokrovsky, General Director of Prodex Energy LLC, presented construction project of Torbeevo solid waste landfill active degassing station with gas genset power plant fueled with landfill gas to the experts. The technology, introduced by the specialists provides for development and implementation of special measures of landfill gas emission minimization and using it for the purpose of power and heat generation and thereby eliminating the negative impact of landfill gas on the environment, elimination of unpleasant odors within a month after beginning of work and complete prevention of layer fires. This project was recognized as the best project for the reclamation of the Torbeevo solid waste landfill in the Moscow Region.

Svetlobor company — Autonomous Power and Heat Supply Based on Gas Generator and Gas Genset Power Plant

Oleg Sharov, Director of the Svetlobor company presented a project of implementation of autonomous power and heat supply based on gas generator and gas genset power plant. The company specializes on the production of automatic boilers for pellets and waste wood. The presented project provides for the production of waste wood synthesis gas generators based on the design of their boilers for application in a standard gas gensets. As the developer noted, only a few companies in Europe produce synthesis gas generators, none of which is represented in Russia. Due to the high price of equipment and sanctions restrictions, sales of European generators in Russia are impossible in the nearest future. The innovative development involves using of a gas generator with ceramic combustion chamber, that improves the quality of all parameters of the boiler by 10-20%. In addition, the Svetlobor gas generator has a digital control system. By the moment the technical development has been completed and design documentation has been prepared.

AirHES LLC — AirHES: Global Solution of Energy, Water and Climate Problems

Andrey Kazantsev, Director of AirHES, presented an experimental technology for generating electricity from clouds to the experts. As the developer noted, the water cycle is the most powerful process in nature. Averagely, 1m of precipitation falls on the Earth's surface per year, which corresponds to a huge power of ~800 TW, which is 60 times greater than all the needs of mankind and 400 times more than the power of all power plants. By the way, basic hydroelectric power plants provide small energy because almost all of energy is mainly vertically and horizontally lost. That is why the runoff of all rivers is 11 times less than all precipitation, and power of the rivers is 200 times less than the power of the clouds. The technology developed by Andrey Kazantsev involves collecting water where it actually condenses, right in the clouds.

Summing up the event, Sergey Alekseenko, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Scientific Director of the Institute of Thermophysics, SB RAS, noted that all projects deserve the highest praise. «All the projects are very interesting, they are all at different stages of implementation: from prototypes to almost ready technology, with great ideas and innovative solutions. I wish all the developers good luck in promoting and advancing their projects», Sergey Alekseenko noted.

We are grateful to the co-organizers of the Startup Club, the All-Russian Public Organization Business Russia and the Center of Entrepreneurship.

Reference information:

Distributed Power Generation — Great Achievements International Award is an authoritative industry award that is given for the best implemented projects in the field of distributed and alternative energy. Established in 2013 by the Distributed Power Generation Association; officially supported by the State Duma Energy Committee, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, and the Business Russia association since 2014. This year, applications for the VIII Distributed Power Generation — Great Achievements International Award will be accepted until October, 17. The solemn ceremony of awarding the winners will take place on December, 10, in Moscow, at the headquarters of the All-Russia Public Organization Business Russia. 

General partners of the project: MKS Group Company, MWM, INNIO.

Official partner of the project: International POL Testing Center.