Russian electricity production has been increasing since the late 1990s, with a total generation capacity of 240 GW in 2016. For the same year, the total electricity production was around 1071 TWh, with around 18 TWh of exports \cite{eia}. Per capita consumption of electricity in Russia was 6,160 kWh, around 13% higher than the European average of 5,437 kWh, while the per capita consumption of natural gas was a whopping 2899 m3, over four times that of the European average of 822.75 m3 \cite{russia}.
Surprisingly, there are approx. 54 GW of renewable energy power plants in Russia, although the large majority is covered by hydropower plants. In 2015 there have been 660 MW of installed capacity in PV and onshore wind \cite{paper}.

Russian energy sources in the future

Russia will further develop the gas sector, nuclear power and renewable energies in the future driven by a rising demand for Russian Gas abroad, rising electricity demand within the country and large number power plants which will be decommissioned. The focus of this brief analysis is on the gas, RES and nuclear sector as most of the changes are expected in this field.
  1. Exploitation of gas resources:
    The Russian depends heavily on the export of natural resources and Russia tries to remain a major international gas supplier. In consequence, the government tries to further increase the gas business due to significant gas resources available in Russia. A perfect example for this motivation is the number of currently pursued projects for Russian oil and gas pipelines. Firstly, Russia increases the business with Europe and especially Germany with the construction of an additional gas pipeline with a transportation capacity which roughly twice of currently existing one \cite{explained}. At the same time, Russia plans to invest 55 bn USD in a pipeline to China \cite{gas}.
  2. Development of Renewable Energy Resources:
    Surprisingly, Russia has in the past and still plans to further increase of RES within the Energy mix of Russia. In Russia’s Energy Strategy for 2030, approved on 13 November 2009, a renewables-based power generation target of 4.5% by 2020, excluding large hydropower has been set. The target is at 20% when large hydropower was included \cite{20302010}.
  3. Development of nuclear power plants:
    In the past, Nuclear power has been of significant importance for Russia. Currently, nuclear encounters for roughly ⅕ of the electricity generation. Russia is the leading exporting country for nuclear power technology and currently has 33 projects with a value of approx. $130 bn in the books \cite{association}. In consequence, the export of nuclear technology is significant for the future of Russia. Nuclear power for the generation of electricity is still important with in the Russian energy strategy. Russia plans to build one nuclear power plant per year until 2035 in order to replace decommissioned nuclear power plants.