Soviet Union-Energy Planning Goals

In 1986 the stated goals of Soviet energy policy were ambitious ones. The share of nuclear power was to increase drastically, and new, large-capacity nuclear plants were to be built, mainly in the European sector. Expansion of the natural gas industry was to contribute more of that fuel to power generation. More coal was to be available to thermoelectric stations from surface mining in remote fuel-and-power complexes such as Kansko-Achinsk and Ekibastuz, and larger thermoelectric stations were to be built near coal deposits. More hydroelectric plants were planned on rivers in Siberia, Soviet Central Asia, and the Soviet Far East. Ultra-high-voltage, long-distance power lines (including the longest in the world) would link thermoelectric power stations in Asia with European and Ural industrial centers and would connect Soviet nuclear plants with Warsaw Pact allies (see Appendix C). Better equipment was to limit power losses occurring over such lines. And alternative, renewable power sources such as wind and solar energy were to be exploited for small-scale local needs. Because nuclear and thermal plants were expected to increase their share of power generation, in long-term planning the industry has concentrated on making the generating units of these plants larger and more efficient. In the European sector, a primary goal has been flexible response to high- and low-demand cycles--a feature that nuclear plants do not provide.

Data as of May 1989