ABSTRACT
Wind power industry represents an impressively fast-growing sector during the last decade; however, the rate of this growth is observed to be unequal across countries and regions of the world. In this chapter it will be referred to one such regions, namely to the 12 countries of the former Soviet Union, including the Russian Federation and excluding the Baltic States (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia). For simplicity reasons, we will be referring to them as to the countries of the Commonwealth of the Independent States (CIS), which per se is an existing regional international organisation created to consolidate the member republics of the USSR.The territory of the CIS spans over 2.1 million km2 covering 16.4% of the Earth’s surface with various climatic zones and distinct geomorphic structure. The member countries of the CIS
are homelands for 4.4% of world population-272.5 million people of wide range of nationalities and ethnicities. The soil occupied by the CIS countries is immensely rich in natural resources and minerals of all kinds, including energy and renewable energy resources. As much as 20% of world oil deposits, 40% natural gas deposits and 25% of coal reserves are located within the borders of the CIS states with the latter generating 10% of world electricity. At the same time, more than 10 million people in the region are not connected to power grids and suffer from unstable electricity supply provided by the use of expensive and unreliable small gasoline or diesel generators. In comparison with the international standards, the levels of energy use intensity in the CIS remain extremely high, remarkably not only in the energy exporter countries, but also in those deprived of fossil fuels, such as Belarus and Ukraine.Renewable energy potential of the region is large and diverse, including massive solar, tide, biomass, hydro, geothermal, and wind resources, which remain almost untapped at the moment. Even though the level of technically achievable economic potential of renewable energy varies among CIS states, virtually in all the countries this potential exceeds current energy consumption. Wind potential of the region is considered to be immense as well; nevertheless the wind power capacity installed in the whole region represents only less than 1% of the world share. Table 23.1 summarises findings on wind power installed capacity and provides an insight into the states’ wind power potential as assessed for the current moment.
