In recent years, both globally and in Russia, the transition from traditional to renewable energy has become increasingly relevant, due to the increasing role of sustainable development and green economy concepts in addressing global issues, in particular climate change. In Russia, the urgency of such a transition is due not only to environmental problems, but also to the problems of energy supply in remote areas, mainly in the north, which could be solved by alternative energy. The aim of the work was to analyze the features of the development of alternative energy in the northern regions. In the course of the work, it was found that the advantage of the northern regions for the development of alternative energy is the availability of the necessary resources (wind, tides, water flows), and the main factors potentially hindering the development of «green» energy are seasonality, extreme weather and climatic conditions, insufficient infrastructure development, and the focal location of productive forces. Based on the analysis of foreign and domestic literature, it is shown how to reduce the impact of such factors as seasonality and weather conditions. In conclusion, the article reflects Russian and foreign instruments for stimulating the development of alternative energy. At the next stage of the study, the possibility of adapting foreign tools to the conditions of the northern Russian regions will be analyzed.