An international seminar on renewable energy solutions for Northwest Russian hosted by Bellona Murmansk and the Bellona Foundation ended on a high note as regional authorities, environmental organisations and businesses got their first extensive look at renewable energy options for the Arctic region.

MURMANSK - Despite the slushy day and late winter chill, ceremonies marking the plug-in of this city’s first wind power device to the electric grid went off like a breeze yesterday. The inclusion of the windmill in Murmansk’s energy mix is critically important because Russian law does not obligate the grid to buy power from the wind power producers, and procedures to include such renewable power devices on the grid are far from spelled out.