GT Business Opportunities in Ukraine
High level priorities for the country
The Russian war in Ukraine has forced changes and adoptions of the energy strategies across Europe and more concretely the rebuilding of Ukraine will contribute to the accelerated decarbonisation of energy production. Even as we speak the transition is ongoing and this is the time we have to engage.
The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers has approved an Energy Strategy of Ukraine in order to achieve carbon neutrality in the energy sector by 2050, and which focuses on the
- development of nuclear and renewable power generation capacity and
- modernisation and automatization of transmission and distribution systems.
Ukraine aims to strengthen energy security and the sustainability of its energy system and wants to join the unified energy system of Ukraine (UES) to the European network of electricity transmission system operators (ENTSO-E).
Will you join us exploring these opportunities …. ?
In March 2023, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy announced that the country aimed to increase the share of renewable energy in its power generation to 50% by 2035, while the other 50% of the power mix would be made up by nuclear power, in order to boost energy security.
Ukraine has a significant potential to expand energy generation from renewable resources including wind, solar, and biomass. The wind speed and solar radiation ratios are amongst the best in Europe. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) conducted a survey of Ukraine’s renewable sector and potential in 2015. Ukraine’s total wind power potential is between 16 gigawatts (GW) and 24 GW, with 16 GW considered economically feasible. IRENA also estimated a total of 4 GW of feasible solar development potential in Ukraine. Biomass could increasingly be used for heating purposes across the country thanks to Ukraine’s plentiful agricultural resources.
Unfortunately, the highest potential for renewable energy is concentrated in regions that have been or are currently under Russian control. Developing renewables, particularly wind and solar, depends on Ukraine successfully reconstructing the infrastructure in these territories. Current installations have also have been damaged. Around 66 percent of solar and wind installations are in five regions: Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Dnipro.
Significantly expanding generation capacity will occur in the later stages of reconstruction, but projects and initiatives in earlier stages will contribute to expanding green energy. Prior to the war, the rapid increase in renewable generation capacity caused grid imbalances and a growing need for balancing capacity and storage. The Ukrainian government had estimated that the grid would require around 2 GW of new peak-generation capacity and about 500 megawatts (MW) of energy storage capacity by 2025.
Expanding renewable energy will also depend on the interconnection and export capacity between the Ukrainian and EU electricity grids. Integrating the Ukrainian grid with Europe’s will be an ongoing effort both during and after the war. Following emergency synchronization of the two networks at the beginning of the war, Ukrenergo (the Ukrainian grid operator) and ENTSO-E connected their grids, but interconnection levels remain low. In the Ukraine Recovery Plan, the country hopes to reach a transfer capacity between Ukraine and Europe of 3.6 GW by 2030 and 6.2 GW by 2040.
Rolling out renewable generation will enable Ukraine to support the European Union’s climate ambitions through green electricity exports. We can help a full integration with the European grid by progressing on both regulations and technology, underscoring the importance of clear steps forward throughout the war and initial reconstruction.
While visiting the Rebuild Ukraine conference in Warszawa November 2023 opening dialogues regarding cooperation was held with several regions across Ukraine from east to west.
<- Kherson
Luhansk ->
