The use of relatively small-scale distributed electric power generation sources is one of the key focus areas in the development of global industry and regional power generation. By integrating distributed generation sources into their on-site energy infrastructure, industrial consumers gain new characteristics and possibilities as entities of the power system that do not only consume power, but in fact can flexibly generate and deliver electricity to local and even centralized grids. This type of entity is called a distributed energy resource system with demand response (Russian: ‘active energy complex’). The purpose of this study is to lay the methodological foundation for the use of distributed energy resource systems with demand response in industrial sites under existing gas and power market conditions and for ensuring the synchronization of parameters that is necessary for managing complex energy consumption. This article provides an empirical study of the principles of the natural gas pricing under the demand volatility of regional markets and the Russian Mercantile Exchange. The article outlines the key drivers, as identified by the authors, that impact gas consumption by a distributed energy resource system, including demand characteristics, limitations and capacity of the gas network and the mode of gas consumption by an industrial enterprise and its generator. Accounting for all of these factors is essential for effective management and proper operational adjustment of a distributed energy resource system with demand response. The result of the study is a proprietary model and a tool for the management of distributed energy resource systems in integration with the gas demand management, which analyze the internal and external parameters of the industrial entity’s operations and its distributed energy resource system, as well as factors existing in the integrated distributed energy system where the consumer is able to buy natural gas in various market segments. The proprietary tool of distributed energy resource system management is based on the centralized control system, which combines performance analytics, operational scheduling of production and the distributed energy resource system, price planning for the wholesale and retail power markets, regional gas markets and exchange, monitoring all elements of the system, and assessment of different active energy management scenarios under various external and internal conditions impacting production and energy demand. Our proprietary tool has been successfully tested in a typical industrial site and was reported to deliver a significant electricity and gas cost-saving effect, which amounted to an 18 percent reduction in the total energy costs of the company, or more than USD 2.6 million per year. The resulting saving effect can recoup the costs of investing in a distributed energy resource system, including construction and installation of the local grid and automation infrastructure, and can be obtained in any country of the world.

Energy efficiency of fuel and energy consumption is an important indicator of regional economy. The article provides an empirical study of electricity consumption, gross regional product, and electricity consumption per capita in Russia’s regions in 2021. The analysis focused on the role of the Irkutsk Region in the development of Russia’s energy balance and economy. The authors mapped the electric intensity as part of gross regional product and found out that it is very low in the Irkutsk Region, despite the fact that this region is one of the largest consumers of electricity in Russia. The analysis revealed a national need for a better theoretical basis in energy efficiency. The research featured the increase in economic indicators of the Irkutsk Region in conditions of leveling the regional energy efficiency to average indicators. The authors used the methods of statistical research, expert assessments, modeling, and forecasting. They analyzed electric intensity by type of economic activity in various regions of the Siberian Federal District. As a result, they associated the low electric intensity of the gross regional product in Irkutsk with its industrial sector, which uses a lot of electricity and provides a significant share of the gross regional product. They modelled some changes in the volumes of Irkutsk’s gross regional product with an increase in energy efficiency in the industrial power consumption sector. As a result, the gross regional product increased by 57%, rising from 1,268 billion rubles to 2,000 billion rubles. The result was achieved by an increase in the industrial sector from 494 billion rubles to 1,226 billion rubles.

Energy saving and sustainability is a key state policy in the Russian Federation in the field of industrial development. The research featured the electricity consumption patterns in the Irkutsk Region, Siberian Federal District. Statistic, cluster, and data synthesis analyses made it possible to conduct a comparative study of the energy efficiency in Russia against other countries, federal districts, and regions as based on gross domestic (GDP) and regional (GRP) products. The Irkutsk energy system involved the prices of electricity supply to industrial consumers, the structure of electricity consumption, and the volume of energy consumption by the population and equivalent consumer categories. The main patterns that resulted in the low electricity sustainability in the region included a high share of electricity consumption by the population (17%), the low electricity tariffs for the population, and the high absolute indicators of electricity consumption per capita. The tariffs for electricity supplied to the population are low, compared to the tariffs for industrial consumers. It encourages electricity industrial consumers to claim tariffs for the population, which allows them to save on electricity bills. To level the economic situation in the Irkutsk Region, harmonize prices, and optimize consumer groups of electricity users, the authors propose to increase tariffs for electricity to all equivalent consumer categories.