Opportunity and prospect analysis of RES utilization for sustainable development of Ekaterinburg city in Russia

Recently megalopolises have become centres of economy development worldwide. Gradual growth in energy consumption and thereafter – enormous power production and delivery to sustain metropolis' needs entailed, rapid increase in emissions of hazardous substances in quantities, no longer tolerable for secure residence in majority of these cities. Ekaterinburg, is one of them. In order to abridge harmful pollution in Ekaterinburg and further centralize economic importance of the city, this paper proposes to implement the concept of urban sustainable development/ref. / by introducing alternative energy sources, which would progressively displace traditional fossil fuels. A number of actual cases, where the concept was successfully implemented, were studied and analysed to demonstrate how different shares of renewables can become effective substitutes to conventional energy sources in the cities strongly dependent on them: 1. Energy strategy of Pecs (Hungary); 2. International low carbon city (ILCC) project (Shenzhen, China); 3. Electric power system template of Tangshan city (China). Further, regional environmental and economic specifics of Ekaterinburg were studied to understand power consumption needs and energy generation possibilities, which led authors to conclude on the alternative energy sources feasibility, plot specific flow chart for RES implementation in Ekaterinburg's power network and outline recommendations for future works. (paper)