Oil-Rich Russia Works to Increase Renewable Energy

     The Energy Ministry of Russia has recently submitted a draft law to Dmitry Medvedev, prime minister of Russia, which is intended to support the deployment of renewable energy sources, such as solar power, wind power, and hydroelectric power. Russia, however, has failed to meet its renewable energy set goal for 2010, in which it was to obtain 1.5% of the country's electric demand from renewable power plants. In 2011, Russia even failed to reach yet 1%.
      Currently there has been no details concerning tariffs for specific technologies, but notably the new law promises a 14% return on investment. In addition, the electricity is said to be bought through power purchase agreements. If approved, this project would cost an amount of 85 billion rubles (approximately $2,716,396,000). This, in turn, is shown to the public as an incentive scheme that will prioritize projects that are in line with a local content requirement.
      Russia, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the few of the largest petroleum exporters throughout the globe. They are each ones of the top 8 petroleum producers yet they acknowledge the environmental consequences of using petroleum, especially UAE whereas the nation aggressively pursues solar and wind energy. The possible reasons for why these petroleum-dependent nations are pursuing renewable energy is as follows: the consequences of climate change, air and water pollution are severe; and the less oil nations consume may lead to more demand in exports causing there to be an increase in foreign exchange revenue and massive petroleum-derived profits.
      This new plan's target goal is for Russia to obtain 2-2.5% of its electricity from renewable energy sources, or 6 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2020. It has also been claimed that the draft law has supposedly been approved by Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev on April 25, 2013, but there has been no information regarding this announcement in the English media as of yet.

Uruguay Plans Cheap Solar Energy!

       The South American nation, Uruguay, is offering contracts to buy power equivalent to 200 megawatts of solar farms at the world's cheapest rates. Ramon Mendez, a director of energy at the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining, has remarked that President Jose Mujica is planning to sign a decree that will require Uruguay's national power utility to purchase electricity from projects at a set rate of $90 a megawatt hour. The nation plans to produce some of the world's cheapest energy, referring mostly to solar and wind energy projects.
         China is offering Uruguay $160 a megawatt hour while Germany offers $154.33 a megawatt hour. Four months after the decree is passed, developers have the opportunity of proposing offers at a first-come first-serve basis. Mendez recalls that three companies have already proclaimed in selling at the price of $90 a megawatt hour. However, if the offers fail, they will plan to wait another couple of years until the equipment prices drop and they will try again.
        The decree that is to be issued also calls for a bid of developing a 1-megawatt and a 5-megawatt plant. Both these projects are to provide the national power utility power for 25 years at a price. Though this decree is currently in circulation, 80% of the nation's electricity is derived from hydroelectric power plants, costing on average $80 a megawatt hour. In a 2011 auction, Uruguay was offered a contract of  power at $63 a megawatt hour from wind developers. This nation has many projects in development to sustain their population as a low-cost nation.