China stopped importing electricity from Russia on Jan. 1 and is unlikely to resume this year after Russian power prices rose above domestic prices in China.
China stopped buying electricity from Russia on Jan. 1 and is unlikely to resume imports this year, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
China declined to import even the minimum contracted volume of 12 megawatts under a long-term agreement with Russia’s Inter RAO, the newspaper said. The contract, signed in 2012 between China’s State Grid Corporation and Inter RAO, runs until 2037 and envisages total electricity supplies of about 100 billion kilowatt-hours.
Under the agreement, Inter RAO supplied surplus electricity generated in Russia’s Far East, mainly from hydropower plants operated by RusHydro.
From 2012 to 2020, annual exports averaged about 3 billion kilowatt-hours. Supplies rose by nearly 30% to 3.97 billion kilowatt-hours in 2021 after China requested additional power to cover an energy deficit in its northeastern regions. Exports peaked at about 4.7 billion kilowatt-hours in 2022 before declining.
Kommersant said exports began to fall from August 2023 after a capacity deficit emerged in the Far Eastern power system, despite the agreement being designed to sell surplus electricity. Volumes hit a low last year.
The newspaper said pricing was a key factor behind the halt. Retail electricity prices in China have remained largely stable at around 350 yuan per megawatt-hour, while prices in Russia’s Far East have risen sharply since the start of 2026 amid market liberalization, making Russian power more expensive than domestic supply in China.
Inter RAO said neither side plans to terminate the contract and that both parties are exploring options to resume electricity trade.
Russia’s Energy Ministry told the newspaper that exports could restart if China submits a request and mutually beneficial terms are agreed, adding that Russia’s priority remains meeting growing electricity demand in its Far Eastern economy.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/68213
Another limit on their “limitless friendship”. And another income source for the mafia state has dried up.
“adding that Russia’s priority remains meeting growing electricity demand in its Far Eastern economy.”
What growing economy? russia is going down the shitter very quickly.
The far east of mafia land is dying, just like the rest of the shithole.
Oh, wait, the influx of chinks into Siberia is what they’re talking about. 😂