“White Coal” for Petrograd: Attempts at Energy Transition During First World War

Abstract

This article examines the origins of Russian hydropower in the prerevolutionary period. From the 1880s, entrepreneurs in the Russian Empire began constructing small hydroelectric power stations for industrial purposes. Despite a lack of statelevel attention for these technologies for an extended period, they were studied by the Imperial Russian Technical Society. The First World War sparked interest in hydropower among government authorities as fuel and financial crises forced the government to seek cheaper energy sources. Legislative measures for regulating the use of water bodies and the practical application of hydropower, which were carried out by the government between 1915 and 1917, received further implementation in Bolshevik Russia. The author analyzes the process of transitioning from discussions about the potential uses of hydropower to the practical implementation of the first hydroelectric projects, emphasizing the key role of the war in accelerating this transition. The source base of the study consisted of administrative documents from the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, official statistics, press materials, and scholarly literature.