In today’s world, digital transformation is one of the most important parts of the energy industry’s development strategy. In the past, the biggest changes were brought about by developments related to technologies for the production and utilization of fossil fuels, renewable energy resources and power transmission. Nowadays, the processes of collection, processing and transmission of a large amount of information, as well as the efficiency of access to various data on the production processes of energy companies are coming to the forefront.

The concept of digital transformation acts as a mechanism of adaptation of the energy industry to various challenges of the XXI century [1]. It cannot be claimed that the concept of digital transformation will be able to fully solve all the strategic tasks of energy companies. At the same time, the principles of digital transformation allow choosing the best development strategy after careful analysis.

The electric power industry is significant in the context of its impact on the modern economy. Moreover, this industry can be counted among those that determine the nature and pace of development of the scientific and technological revolution, because modern industries are fully electrified, and it is simply impossible to imagine life without electricity.

To the main prerequisites for changes and development in the electric power industry, some of which will be due to the introduction of digital solutions, foreign scientists and researchers include the following:

1. Constant increase in the cost of electric energy worldwide.

Pricing in the retail electricity market is a complex issue, because in the process of production, supply and distribution of electricity involves a large number of parties, each of which has a direct impact on the tariff [2]. The global trend, as well as the Russian trend (Fig. 1), shows a constant growth of tariffs, despite the implementation of tariff containment policy and state control of tariff setting.

Figure 1. Electricity tariffs in Russia

2. Aging and growing shortage of qualified personnel in the energy sector.

At the moment there is a trend of reduction of qualified personnel in the energy sector. Among the reasons for this trend are the following: retirement of employees with vast experience and directly involved in the development of energy systems in Russia, along with this there is a need for reforms in the system of higher education, because at the moment the system does not allow to provide energy companies with highly qualified personnel due to its backwardness from the new requirements of the industry. Moreover, a large number of labor-saving technologies (automation, maintenance-free equipment) are emerging.

3. Environmental and industrial safety requirements for the operation of energy facilities.

With the growth of power generation and development of the energy industry, by-products of energy production have a critical negative impact on the environment. This impact is reflected in climate change and global warming, pollution and depletion of natural resources, and leads to increased damage to third parties and higher investment risks. In response, environmental and industrial safety requirements are also changing and expanding.

4. Shortage of electrical energy sources.

Back in the last century, the growth of electricity consumption was determined by the intensive growth and development of the country’s industry and economy, which is why consumer demand was fairly easy to predict, and optimal planning for the development of energy systems was easy to accomplish. During the last twenty years the situation has changed, the development of various technologies and their popularization both among households and consumers dramatically increases the volume of consumed electric energy and creates overloads on those parts of the network where previously it was impossible.

Volumes of electricity production by fuel type in the world with forecast values up to 2040 are presented in Figure 2. The histogram was developed at the Institute of Energy Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

According to expert forecasts, in the near future one of the most significant sources of electricity consumption growth will be the mass transition to electric cars. This trend is supported by the governments of many countries, approving relevant projects to develop electric transportation in large cities in order to reduce air pollution.

Figure 2. Electricity generation by fuel type in the world

One of the target tasks in the strategy for development until 2050, which was recently presented for discussion by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, is to increase energy efficiency.

At present, the main barriers preventing the accelerated introduction of digital technologies and platform solutions in the fuel and energy sector are :

1. Inadequate legal, regulatory and technical framework. 2;
2. Lack of a unified system of management, coordination and monitoring of digitalization of the fuel and energy sector. 3;
3. low elaboration of cyber security issues;
4. Weak import substitution policy;
5. Unsatisfactory staffing;
6. Technological and regulatory barriers in data collection and transmission;
7. Legislative and financial limitations in attracting investment to ensure the implementation of digital technologies in the fuel and energy sector.

The successful functioning of the energy sector requires a legal and regulatory framework that would regulate relations within the framework of energy production and the processes occurring therein [3]. Such a framework can be referred to energy legislation and defined as a set of legal acts regulating economic and civil legal relations arising in the functioning of the fuel and energy complex and its relations with other subjects of law.

In accordance with the Constitution, the legislative authorities and the Government of the Russian Federation have developed and adopted a whole package of laws and by-laws regulating relations in this area. At the moment in Russia there are more than one hundred normative legal acts in force, which would ensure the normal functioning of the fuel and energy complex. At the same time, about half of them relate to the activities of the Federal Tariff Service and the issue of pricing.

Despite the fact that the legislative base in this area can be called extensive, it cannot be considered perfect and, as practice shows, it needs to be finalized and revised. This is especially due to the emergence of new technologies in the industry and the impossibility of their integration into enterprises due to the lack of laws authorizing this and defining the procedure for integration.

In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 7, 2018 No. 204 “On national goals and strategic objectives for the development of the Russian Federation for the period until 2024”, a domestic program “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation” was developed. Among the goals defined by the program there is a proposal to develop specialized legislation, the essence of which is to regulate the implementation of the digital transition and facilitate the use of digital solutions. At the moment there is a federal project “Regulatory Regulation of the Digital Environment” under the control of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

Currently, one of the latest is the Federal Law N 258-FZ dated July 31, 2020 “On experimental legal regimes in the field of digital innovation in the Russian Federation”. This legal document regulates the functional responsibilities and tasks of the principles of experimental legal regimes in terms of the introduction and use of digital technologies, as well as the composition of the participants interacting in the process of integrating digital solutions, defines the processes of monitoring and evaluating their effectiveness and efficiency.

One of the main objectives of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 474 dated 21.07.2020 “On the national development goals of the Russian Federation for the period until 2030” was the realization of the digital transition of the energy sector as part of the digital transformation of the country’s economy.

The transformation concept acts as a key enabler for improving reliability, security and efficiency in addressing existing risks and challenges for electricity consumers and provides the foundation for a new industry infrastructure that will ensure seamless and affordable energy supply through the implementation of digital solutions.

The transformation concept acts as a key factor in improving reliability, security and efficiency in addressing existing risks and problems of electricity consumers and creates the basis for the formation of a new industry infrastructure in which a seamless and affordable energy supply will be ensured through the implementation of digital solutions.

The goal of the Digital Transformation 2030 program is to introduce digital solutions and big data concepts within the framework of revising the logic of existing processes in companies and shifting to risk-oriented management [4].

Disclosing the main goal of the transformation program, it can be noted that the meaning is to revise the main technological and organizational processes, in terms of the possibility of their modernization and integration of digital technologies there, which in turn will lead to an increase in the efficiency and quality of services provided, their availability.

The tasks to be solved can be formulated as: to create conditions for organizations to obtain the ability to quickly and effectively adapt to emerging tasks and challenges, to solve personnel issues related to improving the qualifications of those already employed in the industry and improving the quality of training of future ones, to improve the reliability of electricity supply for consumers, to increase the availability of the use of electric grid infrastructure.

The principles on which the digital transformation will be based can also be emphasized [5]:

— Automation and digitalization of production processes and corporate management;

— transition to a policy of risk-oriented company management;

— creation of conditions to ensure transparency of energy facilities and their operating modes;

— building a unified digital CIM model that would ensure information exchange between all industry entities.

Due to the implementation of these principles, it is expected that there will be a tendency to reduce the need to invest in the reconstruction of old assets or new construction. The effect is caused by the fact that most of the technical tasks of the necessary modernization can be solved through the use of digital solutions, and the share of costs for new construction will also be reduced in the course of efficient use of existing capacities.

The strategy of digital transformation of the fuel and energy complex consists of a number of projects designed to implement the goals and objectives of the program.

The subproject Digital Industrial Safety in the Fuel and Energy Complex involves stimulating the use of a platform solution for collecting and analyzing data on the technical condition of the fuel and energy complex infrastructure and personnel: Monitoring and Diagnostics of Fuel and Energy Complex Facilities and Personnel to ensure their safety, reduce the number of emergency situations and injuries in the fuel and energy complex [6]. The system will enable companies and the government to monitor the health of more than 500,000 employees and safety at more than 300 FEC facilities in real time by 2030. The platform solution will help to reduce the level of occupational injuries and reduce the impact of anthropogenic and natural factors on humans.

Table 1 shows the amount of funding for energy projects by the objectives of the Digital Transformation 2030 strategy.

Table 1

Financing volumes for digital transformation of the energy sector

The “Smart Consumer” subproject contains such challenges as the need to improve the quality and reliability of electricity supply to consumers, and to increase the literacy of household consumers using modern energy consumption profile analytics services [7]. “Smart Consumer” includes the following areas:

1. “Advisor for home consumption management”, which is a recommendation service and analytics based on smart metering devices with advanced functionality.
2. “Autonomous Smart Home”, which allows for autonomous home energy supply (and/or powered in parallel with the grid), easy integration of additional renewable energy sources and emergency generators, and the creation of a digital platform for easy integration of multiple households into a single microgrid.
3. “Remote Appliance Control”, allowing, based on a home-grown secure application integrated with smart outlets and home appliances, remote control of appliances.
4. “Smart Enterprise”, which is a service for business owners and management based on a life cycle model with predictive analytics.
5. “Affordable Energy for Business” — a unified platform for monitoring and optimizing energy consumption of small and medium-sized businesses with different functionality and user interfaces.
6. “Digital twins” — objects built in a virtual environment, which through the use of multidisciplinary models embedded in them and data coming from real objects, make it possible to carry out effective complex optimization of their prototype objects at any stage of their life cycle.

It would be incorrect to assess the effectiveness of implementation only in an economic way. Thus, some of the main results of the concept are: a qualitative increase in the level of operational management and ensuring the reliability of energy supply due to increased observability and controllability, as well as an increase in the efficiency of fuel and energy companies and a decrease in the level of negative impact on the country’s environment due to more careful planning of energy consumption and resource consumption with the help of digital solutions.