A Methodological Approach to the Decarbonization of an Isolated Energy System

Since the 70s of the last century, the increasing attention of the international community has been paid to global climate change, but all the international obligations assumed by the countries were exclusively declarative. Only since the 90s of the last century, countries and international communities began to take concrete quantitative commitments to reduce emissions that directly affect climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 [1], was ratified by the Russian Federation in 1994. To achieve the final goal of the said framework convention, a protocol was adopted in 1997 in Kyoto [2], signed by Russia in 1999 and ratified by it in 2004. According to Stage I of the Kyoto Protocol, the total average annual emissions of the Russian Federation must not exceed the average annual level of greenhouse gas emissions achieved in 1990. Penalties for withdrawal from the agreement and noncompliance were not provided. To achieve the final goal of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in connection with the end of the Kyoto Protocol in 2015, a climate agreement was adopted in Paris [3], signed by Russia in 2016 and ratified by it in 2019. According to the Paris Agreement, the volume of total average annual greenhouse gas emissions in the Russian Federation by 2030 should not exceed 75% of the 1990 baseline emissions. The so-called “carbon tax”, which was repeatedly mentioned in the documents of the Paris Climate Conference, was not included in the decisions of the Paris Agreement on climate change, but at present, the WTO rules do not directly prohibit the introduction of such taxes. In this regard, the methodology for choosing the type of an isolated power supply system taking into account the “carbon footprint” becomes especially important. The article analyzes methodological approaches to the choice of the type of an isolated medium-power power system, taking into account greenhouse gas emissions.