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A decade of efforts were made to reform and liberalize the Russian electricity sector, with the unbundling of electricity networks and generation, the creation of an institutional governance framework and a wholesale electricity market, together with the privatization of generation assets. These changes attracted national and foreign investment into new generation capacity. In 2013, the government decided to launch a process to reform the Russian electricity market; this was planned to last until 2015. In 2014, discussions were still taking place over the ideal market design. Looking ahead, this reform is crucial for the modernization of the power sector, notably for the renewal of Russia's large fleet of thermal power plants which were built 50 to 70 years ago. Up to 2035, around 80 per cent of nuclear capacity will reach the end of its lifetime and 78 per cent of hydropower plants will be in need of refurbishment. The IEA World Energy Investment Outlook 2014 estimates that the electricity sector in Russia will require investment of $411 billion in generation and $202 billion in networks by 2035.

We present optical and near infrared (NIR) observations of the nearby Type Ia SN 2014J. Seventeen optical and 23 NIR spectra were obtained from 10 days before (-10d) to 10 days after (+10d) the time of maximum B-band brightness. The relative strengths of absorption features and their patterns of development can be compared at one day intervals throughout most of this period. Carbon is not detected in the optical spectra, but we identify C I lambda 1.0693 in the NIR spectra. Mg II lines with high oscillator strengths have higher initial velocities than other Mg II lines. We show that the velocity differences can be explained by differences in optical depths due to oscillator strengths. The spectra of SN 2014J show that it is a normal SN Ia, but many parameters are near the boundaries between normal and high-velocity subclasses. The velocities for OI, Mg II, Si II, S Ca a, and Fell suggest that SN 2014J has a layered structure with little or no mixing. That result is consistent with the delayed detonation explosion models. We also report photometric observations, obtained from -10d to +29d, in the UBVRIJH and K-s bands. The template fitting package SNooPy is used to interpret the light curves and to derive photometric parameters. Using R-v = 1.46, which is consistent with previous studies, SNooPy finds that A(v) = 1.80 for E(B - V)(host) = 1.23 +/- 0.06 mag. The maximum B-band brightness of -19.19 +/- 0.10 mag was reached on February 1.74 UT +/- 0.13 days and the supernova has a decline parameter, Delta m(15), of 1.12 +/- 0.02 mag. ; Department of Space, Government of India ; Hungarian OTKA NN-107637 ; NSF AST-1109801, AST-1151462, AST-1211196 ; NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship AST-1302771 ; NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute GO-12540 ; NASA NAS5-26555 ; Swedish Research Council ; Swedish National Space Board ; Danish Agency for Science and Technology and Innovation realized through a Sapere Aude Level 2 grant ; Astronomy