Ensuring economic security of thermal power plants with accelerated decarbonization of the energy industry

Abstract

The article highlights the results of a detailed study of the Report of the Institute of Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine “Economically justified approach to the introduction of the National Emission Reduction Plan in Ukraine based on the experience of reducing emissions of harmful pollutants into the air by large combustion plants in Europe” and considers the European experience of state support thermal power plants/ thermal power plants. It was emphasized that among the mechanisms that were used and continue to be used to support coal generation, the most significant in terms of funding are the transitional payment mechanism, which is currently used in Poland, Germany, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, and contracts for difference, which are still used in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain, etc. countries It is justified that for Ukraine it is more expedient to finance reconstruction/modernization/technical re-equipment projects using the transitional payment mechanism, for which the transitional payment before payment will be calculated: for household consumers – as the product of the corresponding rate of transitional payment for final household consumers (UAH/month) and the number of household consumers connected to the network of this distribution system operator; for non-household consumers – as the product of the corresponding transitional payment rate (UAH/kWh) and the amount of electricity consumed by final non-household consumers. The inclusion in this way of a transitional payment to electricity supply tariffs (which include the cost of purchasing electricity on the market, the cost of services for its distribution and transmission, as well as the cost of the services of the electricity supplier) will not have a significant impact on their growth for both domestic and non-domestic consumers, instead, it will allow to have additional revenues, which the thermal power station/ thermal power plant will be able to direct to finance projects for their reconstruction/modernization/technical re-equipment. The introduction of transitional payment can definitely serve as only one of the alternative options for financing the implementation of projects for the modernization of thermal power plants/thermal power plants and, accordingly, ensuring their economic security, but it does not finally resolve the issue of financial support for the implementation of projects for the reconstruction/modernization/re-equipment of thermal power plants, which are provided for by the National Reduction Plan emissions from large combustion plants.