This year in May Beijing will hold high-level Summit on international cooperation under “One Belt, One Road”. In order to implement strategic agreements of the Heads of China and Russia in the area of collaboration between "One Belt, One Road" and Eurasian Economic Union and to stimulate cooperation in the sphere of connecting energy and electrical infrastructure, “Integration of Energy Systems at the Euro-Asia Territory: Development Prospects for Global Energy Collaboration and Silk Road Economic Belt Creation» conference was held in Moscow on April 18, 2017. The event was organized by Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) and PJSC ROSSETI. The organizers were represented by non-governmental non-profit organization GEIDCO and PJSC ROSSETI. The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, Economic Development Ministry of the Russian Federation, leading Russian and international energy companies, research centers, and leading universities. The number of participants in the conference exceeded 120 people.
Director General of PJSC ROSSETI Oleg Budargin in his welcome speech to the participants of the conference pointed out the uniqueness of energy systems in Russia and China.
According to his words, the deep internal integration of Russian energy system, its geography and the existence of more than 140 power lines that connect us with 11 neighboring countries, provide an exceptionally unique opportunity for the Russian energy system to become an energy bridge between Asia and Europe. At the same time, China's energy industries are leaders in the transmission of large amounts of electricity for long and extra-long distances practically without losses. These technologies bring us closer to implementation of the idea to create a global energy interconnection.
Oleg Budargin highlighted that holding of this conference in Russia plays an important role in connecting power lines on the Eurasian continent and promotes social and economic development of Russia and the surrounding regions.
As part of the opening of the conference, the Deputy Secretary-General of GEIDCO Cheng Zhiqiang delivered a speech on behalf of the Chairman of this Organization, Mr. Liu Zhenya. Cheng Zhiqiang noted that "One Belt, One Road" and "Global Energy Interconnection" are the initiatives brought forward by Chairman of China Xi Jinping, fulfilling an important strategy, implementation of which assumes cooperation of different countries in the world and is aimed at mutual benefit and common gain. These initiatives have been actively supported by governments of different countries, international organizations and industries. Discussions on integration and development of Eurasian energy and electricity in the context of "One Belt, One Road" are of great importance for developing cooperation between GEIDCO and such countries as Russia, and to jointly promote integration of energy systems in the Eurasian area.
Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Anatoly Yanovsky highlighted the importance of the idea of global energy interconnection and emphasized the participation of Russia in this process. "The Russian Federation has a huge energy and transit potential," said the Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia.
The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation is actively involved in the integration processes developed at international stage, such as (Commonwealth of Independent States) CIS, the Eurasian Union. Since 2019, the General Electricity Market within Eurasian Economic Union will start operating. "The implementation of this project can have a significant economic effect for our countries," added Anatoly Yanovsky.
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Energy Committee Sergei Yesyakov voiced his support for the integration processes between the energy systems of Russia and China on behalf of the parliamentary community and expressed confidence in further development of the energy interconnection.
According to the agenda, the several new members of the organization were solemnly accepted into GEIDCO. Getting the certificate of the member of the organization from the vice-chairman of GEIDCO - Director General of PJSC "ROSSETI" Oleg Budargin, the President of the Scientific Research Institute "MPEI" Nikolai Rogalev welcomed the participants of the conference, addressed each delegation in its native language: in Chinese, Mongolian, Russian, Belarusian and French.
Nicolay Dmitrievich pointed out the need to integrate advanced scientific achievements into the training process of skilled workers. It is necessary to solve a substantive task, the factors of which are globality and a combination of the national aspects. It is necessary to ensure the understanding of the common features of the development as well as that of the differences, including nations where engineers from the future Global Energy Interconnection project will work. It is integration of traditional engineering knowledge and information-communication technologies; it is the necessity to save the fundamental character of education, not only in traditional aspects, but also concerning information. The project is very ambitious and it is comparable to what was once associated with the exploring of Space. In case of its implementation this will be a big progress in the development of civilization.
During the conference the participants made a number of fundamental reports on the possibilities and prospects of the energy association under discussion.
First Deputy Minister for Development of Russian Far East Alexander Osipov, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Russia Li Huai, Deputy Director General of the Russian Energy Agency of the Ministry of Energy of Russia Igor Kozhuhovsky, Chief Engineer of PJSC ROSSETI Dmitry Gvozdev and President of the Institute of Energy Systems named after L.A. Melentiev of the SB RAS Nikolai Voropai and other competent experts made their presentations.
The participants of the conference unanimously believe that the creation of the Global Energy Interconnection has opened a new way of thinking for creating human unity, stimulating energy transformation and solving climate problems. It is an effective project for solving the problems of world energy sustainable development.
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GEIDCO was officially established in Beijing in March 2016 and became the first international energy organization created upon the initiative of China. The Chairman of the Board of the Chinese Federation of Electric Power Enterprises, the former Chairman of The Board of Directors of the State Grid Corporation of China Liu Zhenya became the GEIDCO’s head. Oleg Budargin, the General Director of PJSC ROSSETI, the former US Energy Secretary, the physics Nobel Prize winner Steven Chu, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the State Grid Corporation of China Shu Yinbiao, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Japanese Softbank Corp. Masayoshi Son became the Deputy Chairmen. The Organization includes more than 260 members representing 22 countries and regions on five continents and working in such spheres as energetics, electrical energy industry, information, environmental protection, research studies, consulting and finance.