OREANDA-NEWS. March 01, 2012. Russia's Renova holding company and state-run nanotechnology company Rosnano plan to develop and build a self-contained diesel-solar power unit, the first of its kind in Russia, Rosnano said.

The companies plan to build the pilot hybrid power station with a capacity of over 100 KW, 70% of which is to come from solar generation, it said in a statement.

The company did not provide a timeframe for the work to be completed.

Use of solar technology is limited in Russia, which mainly develops conventional energy resources.

But the companies believe that development of diesel-solar power generation is a technically and economically viable solution for Russian regions with high levels of solar radiation, said Michael Lifshitz, CEO of Rosnano's subsidiary Rotek.

In particular, he mentioned southern regions of Russia, southeastern Siberia, the east Siberian Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and far eastern regions, where diesel generation costs Rb30-40 kWh (around USD 1/kWh).