Energy Industry in Russia’s Eastern Regions: Regional Features and Decarbonization

Research on the development of energy in Russia’s eastern regions, taking into account the trends in the technological development of the country’s fuel and energy complex, is both difficult and complex. In the context of new challenges related to the geopolitical situation and sanctions pressure on Russia, the eastern regions play a particular and important role. The requirements for decarbonization of the economy put forward by the international community and supported by the Russian Federation Government make their adjustments for assessing the development of the fuel and energy complex and its constituent energy systems. This article analyzes the regional features in the functioning of energy systems in Russia’s East to identify significant factors influencing development of the territorial-production structure of the fuel and energy complex, energy consumption, the formation of transport infrastructure in the eastern regions, the export of energy resources to countries of the Asia-Pacific Region, and the efficiency of energy supply consumers in isolated and hard-to-reach areas. As a result of the analysis, several categories of features of the energy systems of the eastern regions were identified: socioeconomic, infrastructural, sectoral, fuel and energy balance, and environmental–climatic. All these characteristics are interrelated and must be taken into account when formulating energy development scenarios given the transition to low-carbon technologies.