Alternative energy sources in Belarus. Fuel and energy resources of Belarus

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The problem of the growing shortage of energy resources is now reaching the level of the problem of climate change, and, as you know, the history of mankind is the history of the struggle for energy resources. A similar situation is observed in the XXI century (for example, the war in the Middle East for oil). But there is a more worthy way to solve the problem of the growing shortage of energy resources - alternative energy sources. In Belarus, this issue is very relevant and is being worked out by government agencies.

Renewable energy sources in Belarus

Terminology of the United Nations (UN) defines the concept of "renewable energy" and its sources. Renewable energy sources include the sun, air masses, water, the heat of the earth's interior, biomass, wood, peat.

Since Belarus is provided with its own traditional energy resources by less than 20%, naturally, there is a need for such sources in order to somehow compensate for the lack of its own energy resources.

Meanwhile, the issue of renewable energy(RES) are engaged not only in countries with energy problems. For example, countries such as Germany, Sweden, France (more than twenty states in total) have created the International Solar Energy Society.

According to experts' forecasts, by 2040 the world's energy production from non-traditional renewable energy sources will account for 82 percent of the world's energy consumption. The global trend has contributed to the development of non-traditional (alternative) energy sources in Belarus as well.

Studies have shown that solar energy is the most expedient in the republic, since more than half of the year it experiences partly cloudy weather, and only one hundred and fifty days (on average) are cloudy. The highest efficiency of the star is observed from April to September.

Alternative energy sources are…

These are sources that do not pollute the environment, as is the case with the use of well-known and widespread today energy carriers: oil, coal, nuclear fuel.

First of all it is the sun, the wind. The sun is the most reliable and environmentally friendly source of energy, because our luminary will exist for many more millions of years. Its energy can be stored in devices called solar panels.

Wind as a source of energy is used quite widely, as it is very profitable. Wind energy is widespread mainly in countries that are limited in classical energy resources and advocatefor the cleanliness of the environment. These countries include the Republic of Belarus.

A significant role is played by significant wood reserves in the state, the cost of which is four times less than exported hydrocarbons.

RB and its fuel and energy complex

The fuel and energy complex of Belarus (FEC) does not have enough of its own energy resources. In this regard, the state is pursuing an energy conservation policy, which is expressed in the development of both local energy sources and alternative energy.

The regulator of the fuel and energy complex is the Ministry of Energy of Belarus. It is a relatively young governing body in the republic (created at the end of 2002). During this time, targeted state programs aimed at improving the efficiency of the country's energy sector were adopted and implemented.

According to the Minister of Energy of Belarus Vladimir Potupchik, since 2014 the republic has been saving more than $200 million annually by reducing the consumption of fuel energy resources, which account for about 70% of energy costs.

In the near future, the Ministry of Energy of Belarus intends to tackle an important task - the creation of a completely new base for the development of the fuel and energy complex, efficient and environmentally acceptable in modern conditions. These plans are fixed in the "Main directions of the energy policy of the Republic of Belarus for the period up to 2020".

In particular, the document provides for the following principles of operation of the country's fuel and energy complex:

• enhanced energy saving;
• environmentalpurity;
• strengthening scientific work on alternative energy and implementation of its results;
• development of small power generation;

Energy resources of the Republic of Belarus

The fuel and energy resources of Belarus are not very diverse: they include peat (fuel), oil, gas (associated), firewood, etc. More than nine thousand peat deposits have been found in the republic. Currently, only a quarter of all proven reserves of this fuel have been used.

The fact is that the lion's share of peat deposits is located in areas occupied by agriculture or nature conservation, which makes the wider use of deposits unrealistic.

Deposits of oil and associated gas are available in the Pripyat depression. The deposits were discovered in 1956. The Belneftekhim concern is engaged in the extraction of these resources. However, according to experts, these deposits will last only 30-35 years. True, the prospect of oil and gas production in the Orsha and Brest depressions is being considered, but it is quite distant.

We alth of forests allows Belarus to carry out centralized procurement of firewood and sawn timber waste. But the volumes of these resources are so small that the republic's energy demand is met by less than 15%. The rest is made up by energy imports, which makes the Belarusian economy very vulnerable. In such a situation, the republic is forced not only to comply with the energy saving regime, but also to intensively look for possible alternative energy sources.

Unconventional energy

Alternative energy appeared much earlier than they were forced to talk about it everywhere. People, including Belarusians, used solar energy, water energy, wind energy for their energy-intensive needs more than two hundred years ago. But then these sources were not considered something special. Mankind lived in complete harmony with nature, without violating its balance. The use of coal was as natural as wind power, water to run mills, sawmills to cut timber, thresh crops, and even to make textiles.

Belarus even launched the production of such “wind turbines” and “water pumps”, which could be both stationary and mobile. They did not need special dams, that is, nature was not harmed. And "windmills" could be placed anywhere, as long as there was a wind. Such energy sources even accounted for Belarus' "exports", whose consumers were Russia and Ukraine.

Modern Belarus has only a dozen small hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) from alternative energy sources. Belarusian scientists, who have been dealing with wind power plants (WPP) since the times of the Soviet Union, have not created anything competitive. This can be confirmed by Vetromash in Zaslavl, where wind turbines are demonstrated, similar to Western developments half a century ago, which have long been obsolete.

Meanwhile, non-traditional energy was subjected to some restrictions by the state: from August 19, 2015, by Decree of the President of Belarusquotas are provided for installations with alternative sources of electricity. The restrictions apply to the total electrical capacity of installations located on the territory of Belarus. The rules apply to anyone who wants to engage in alternative energy, including foreign companies.

Energy of Belarusian water resources

The change in the situation in the fuel and energy complex of Belarus (the high cost of fossil energy resources, environmental degradation, which forced the state to assume certain obligations to reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere, etc.) has led to the need to revise views on the industry, components of the energy balance of the republic. One such area is hydropower. In Belarus, as you know, there are the rivers Dnieper, Western Dvina and Neman. They flow along the plain, but in some places they are surrounded by high banks and have rapids. All this accompanies the construction of hydroelectric power stations, which, given the current shortage of oil, coal, and gas, gives an important chance to reduce it. Alternative energy has come to the fore in the fuel and energy complex of Belarus.

Based on this, the Cabinet of Ministers of Belarus approved the state program for the construction of hydroelectric power plants. According to this document, it was planned to build a hydroelectric power station on the Neman (above and below the city of Grodno), Zapadnaya Dvina (Verkhnedvinskaya, Beshenkovichiskaya, Vitebskaya and Polotskaya).

The Dnieper, as the slowest river, was considered for the construction of a hydroelectric power station last. Construction planned for 2020four low-capacity HPPs, including Orshanskaya, Shklovskaya, Rechitskaya and Mogilevskaya.

Undeservedly forgotten

In total, more than twenty thousand small rivers flow in the Republic of Belarus, the length of which is 90 thousand km. And this huge water and energy potential is used only by 3%.

This resource began to be developed in the 50s. Small hydroelectric power plants began to be built in the republic. The first was built in 1954, the Osipovichi hydroelectric power station on the Svisloch River. Its capacity was only 2.25 MW. By the way, the hydroelectric power station is still operating.

However, by the 1960s, small hydropower had faded into the background due to the emergence of state power systems. The rural consumer was transferred to new powerful systems, and the need for small hydropower plants disappeared by itself.

In this regard, most of the built small HPPs were decommissioned, as the cost of facilities turned out to be too high. As a result, by the end of the 1980s, only six HPPs remained in Belarus, which generated a little more than 18 million kW a year.

But later life again turned power engineers to small hydroelectric power plants (SHPPs). At the same time, it turned out that such alternative energy sources in Belarus can be obtained by restoring previously decommissioned ones, as well as through the construction of new SHPPs. It did not require flooding of agricultural land.

It is also possible to use reservoirs for other, non-energy purposes, which are available on small rivers. Here it is quiteit is appropriate to build a SHPP with a capacity of 6 thousand kW, while its payback is five to six years.

Representatives of the "green" confirm the absence of any burden on the environment from the SHPP.

Belarusian authorities plan to double the total capacity of such HPPs by 2020. In this regard, foreign investors show a certain interest in the construction of small hydroelectric power stations in the country, who bear 78.4% of the costs of building small-scale power facilities.

The wind continues to serve man

Wind energy in Belarus contributes to solving many issues of power supply for small facilities in hard-to-reach places. Therefore, the issue of using the energy of air masses remains relevant for the fuel and energy complex of the republic.

In recent years, about 1840 places have been identified in the country where it is possible to install a wind turbine or a wind turbine. These are mainly hills up to 80 m high, on top of which the wind speed reaches five or more meters per second.

Currently, such systems are located in Minsk, Grodno, Mogilev and Vitebsk regions. The most powerful wind turbine (1.5 MW) serves the residents of the village of Grabniki (Grodno region). The district center of Novogrudok in the same region provides electricity to a windmill owned by the state (the only one of its kind). It is planned to install five more wind turbines to it.

A whole park of windmillsis planned to be erected in Luzhische, a village in the Oshmyany region. Construction is being funded by investors and will continue until 2020.

Sustainable home

In this concept, humanity includes a structure, the energy supply of which is carried out only at the expense of non-traditional energy sources.

Alternative energy for the home can be obtained from the flow of sunlight, wind, as a result of the operation of micro hydroelectric power plants and the processing of biomass to produce biogas.

The use of solar energy is of particular interest to create a sustainable home, but some factors make serious adjustments to the plans of the owner of such a property. First of all, these are the costs: solar collectors, equipment installation, control system and maintenance will cost a substantial amount (a 3 kW solar battery for an average house will cost 15 thousand euros).

Yet there is some interest in houses built with a method called "solar architecture". Its essence lies in the fact that the house must have a roof, the area of the southern part of which is at least 100 m22. In this case, the house should be located at the latitude of the capital of Belarus. This is quite enough even for heating the premises in winter.

However, such use of solar energy has not received due attention in Belarus. At present, only one building has been built on this principle - the German International Education Center. Meanwhile, the construction of such facilities could reduce heat consumption to 80 kW/m2 per year.

Using windmills gives a home a similar chance to be green. But we should not forget that in Belarus the average wind speed is no more than 5 m/s, and for normal operation modern systems require a speed of up to 10 m/s. Therefore, according to experts, a windmill installed in this country will pay off only in forty years.

However, this all applies to electricity, but the renewable energy of the sun may well be used in a private house in the form of a solar water heater. The system is very efficient and does not depend on weather and climatic conditions. With its help, you can even partially heat the room. In addition, it consumes no more than 45 W and costs 3.8 thousand euros (with installation). Its payback is no more than four years.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, alternative energy sources in Belarus (and not only there) today and in the foreseeable future will not be able to fully replace traditional energy sources.

Sun energy is not capable of becoming such a source on an industrial scale for a simple reason - the low density of the solar energy flux. Taking into account the fact that only a third of the year is sunny in Belarus, calculations show that more than 30% of the territory of the republic must be given over to solar power plants in order to satisfy its need for electricity. But even if this condition is met, one should not forget that these calculations were made taking into account the efficiency of the stations, which is 100%. In fact, today this figure is at the level of ten to fifteen percent.

It turns out that inreality, solar power plants will require the area of the whole of Belarus and part of the territories of its neighboring states. In addition, the construction and operation of solar stations will require enormous costs.

A similar situation is observed with the use of wind energy, rivers, geothermal sources.