Digital transformation of energy in the Russian Federation: project approach, realities and prospects

Kazan State Power Engineering University, Department of Economics and Organization of Production, 420066, Kazan, str. Krasnoselskaya, 51, Russian Federation

^* Corresponding author: kulkova77@mail.ru

Abstract

The digital transformation of energy infrastructure is a priority task for the development of energy in the Russian Federation, implemented in a project-based approach - in the initiation of the departmental project “Digital Energy” by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. The project can get an additional impetus for development in the current conditions of the “crisis of 2020”, which are positioned as a trigger for digital transformations in the sectors of the economy. To what extent are the activities of the Digital Energy project aimed at digital transformation of the energy industry and do consumers see changes when they receive services? Should we expect an intensification of the digital transformation of the energy sector in the context of the 2020 crisis? The questions are acute and relevant, which determine the purpose of the study - to assess the digital transformation of the energy sector in the Russian Federation implemented in the project approach in the context of the “crisis of 2020”, revealing the expert opinion of the stakeholders. Research methods: end-to-end analysis of project activities in a comparative assessment with foreign factography; secondary analysis of interviews with top managers of energy enterprises on the issue of digitalization and digital transformation of energy; survey of individuals-consumers of electricity (N = 60). The conducted research provides a basis for the conclusion about the implementation of the digitalization process in the energy sector and does not allow identifying the conditions of the “crisis of 2020” as a trigger for the transition of digitalization to the digital transformation of the energy industry. Identified consumers-detractors, whose positions are working to identify “points of growth” of digital transformation of the electric power industry in the future.