The current status of the development of renewable energy sources worldwide and in Russia

Resorting to renewable energy sources (RESs) as one of the bases of the promising world energy industry has become a logical result of the historical development and the recognition that is necessary to diversify primary energy sources being used, with the aim of enhancing both energy and ecological security of countries, regions, and concrete energy consumers. The review of the development of new technologies used for conversion of RESs, the progress of which can be characterized by the fact that by the year 2013 the total generating capacity of RES-based power plants now in operation has amounted to 500 GW - by a factor of 1.5 more than the total generating capacity of all nuclear power stations in the world. The paper presents an analysis of the current status of RESs and problems that restrain their development in Russia. It is noted that the peculiarities of the energy situation in Russia impose the specific requirements upon drawing up the programs of the development of RESs. Along with the use of RESs as part of systems of centralized energy supply, which is a priority for most industrially developed countries and promises the most large-scale introduction of RESs in Russia, it is necessary, first of all, to give attention to the development and creation of systems for independent supply of consumers with power and heat and the development of distributed powergenerating systems using RESs. © 2014 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.