Ukraine in June 2019 increased electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2.8 times (by 378.3 million kWh) compared to June 2018, to 585 million kWh.
According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, available to Interfax-Ukraine, production of electricity from renewable energy sources in January-June 2019 increased by 1.9 times compared to the same period last year, to 2.372 billion kWh.
The share of renewable energy in the structure of electricity production in June 2019 reached 5% against 1.8% in June 2018, while the share of renewable energy in the first half of this year was 3% against 1.5% in January-June 2018.
As reported, as of the end of the first half of the year, the installed capacity of renewable energy facilities reached 3,634 MW, in particular that of solar plants some 2,640 MW, wind plants 776.6 MW, biomass plants 51.3 MW, and biogas stations some 66.4 MW.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) could organize a syndicated loan of EUR 80 million for state-owned Ukreximbank (Kyiv) to support renewable energy and energy efficiency private investments in Ukraine.
According to a posting on the bank’s website, EBRD will provide EUR 40 million from own account.
The provision of the loan is pending the approval of the EBRD Board on June 19, 2019.
Ukreximbank, a wholly owned state bank, was established in 1992. It ranked third among 77 banks in Ukraine in terms of total assets worth UAH 232.064 billion as of January 1, 2019, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
Ukraine in March 2019 increased generation of electricity by renewable energy facilities 1.9 times (by 195.8 million kWh) compared to March last year, to 409 million kWh. According to the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry, in January-March 2019, the production of electricity by renewable energy facilities increased 1.6 times (by 317.5 million kWh) compared to the same period last year, to 850.3 million kWh.
The share of renewable energy in the structure of electricity production in March 2019 amounted to 2.9%, which is 1.5 p.p. more than in March 2018. The share of renewables in the first quarter of this year was 1.9%, which is 0.7 p.p. more than January-March 2018.
As reported, the forecast electric power balance of Ukraine, updated at the beginning of April, envisages production of electricity by renewable energy facilities in the amount of 5.979 billion kWh, which is 2.3 times (2.633 billion kWh) more than in 2018.
Ukraine in January-March 2019 introduced 861.1 MW of renewable energy facilities, which is 5.4 times more than in the same period of 2018, and 16% more than in the entire of 2018.
Ukraine in the first quarter of 2019 commissioned 861.1 MW of renewable energy facilities, which is 5.4 times more than in the same period last year, and 16% more than in the whole 2018. These data were announced at a meeting of the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation (NCER).
Thus, the total number of installed capacities of renewable energy facilities in Ukraine at the end of March 2019 was about 3 GW.
In particular, in the first quarter some 172 MW of wind power plants were commissioned. DTEK Group put into operation the largest solar station of 246 MW, which is also the largest alternative energy station in Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk region. The NCER also noted that this year the largest roof solar plant with a capacity of 12 MW has been built at a mink farm.
In the first quarter of this year, renewable energy facilities produced 1.9 billion kWh of electricity.
National Energy Company Ukrenergo has urged Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Ministry to announce a tender to build new highly maneuverable generating facilities to balance operation of renewable energy facilities, the company has said on its website. Ukrenergo recalled that in case of further rapid growth of green generation and an increase in its share, problems with its balancing may arise. “According to the results of the analysis, we modeled several scenarios for the development of events, provided that measures were not taken to properly balance green energy. In particular, the main negative consequences will be the restriction of renewable energy sources with the compensation of the feed-in tariff for unproduced electricity or the increase in the volume of coal generation and the restriction of nuclear power, given the need to increase opportunities for balancing. Both scenarios will be a significant obstacle to overcoming dependence on fossil fuels and improving the environment in the country,” the company said.
The company also said that any restrictions on the connection of renewable energy facilities and the provision of technical conditions are prohibited by the Transmission System Code, provided that the customer complies with the requirements of the Code.
“The development of renewable energy in Ukraine is an indicator of the country’s attractiveness to the international community. In this regard, the company expects to continue constructive cooperation with state security agencies in responding to potential threats to the Ukrainian energy system and supporting the initiative to build new highly maneuverable capacities,” Ukrenergo said.
Earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine, in a letter to the Prime Minister, expressed concerns about the destabilization of the country’s energy system due to the “excessive” issuance of technical conditions for the connection of renewable energy facilities.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is about to invest from $2 million to $4 million in the development of infrastructure of auctions stimulating renewable energy, EBRD Deputy Director in Ukraine Marina Petrov said during her interview to the Reform.Energy website. “This is the money that we are already asking for now from the donors in order to launch a high-quality auction,” she said. She explained that market players might not be able to perceive poorly organized auctions. “This is very important to keep up the balance of interests in order to receive the most outstanding result,” Petrov said. The auctions will have to be transparent, understandable and in line with legislation.
According to her, the EBRD during Ukraine’s transition to the auctions stimulating renewable energy is ready to share its experience from similar auctions in those countries which were the first ones to introduce such tools. Such or similar auctions are held in Turkey, Poland, Bulgaria, Jordan, Egypt, and Armenia, she said.
The amount is to be allocated within the EBRD’s USELF-III lending facility approved in July this year in the amount of EUR 250 million to support private renewable energy projects in Ukraine, she said.
Speaking at the Ukrainian Financial Forum organized by the ICU Invest Group in Odesa, the EBRD representative said that market operators had questions as for who would be a balancing player on this market. She said that the EBRD was working jointly with the U.S. Agency for International Development to create the market of balancing facilities and invest the funds in more mobile parts of the system, e.g. batteries, gas turbines. “This is next year’s agenda,” Petrov said.
In general, she described the situation on the renewables market as a “quick sprint” – the investment is to be made while the current feed-in tariffs are in effect.
“We’ve got many investors who are mulling over investment this and next year. We have fewer investors who are preparing projects for 2020-2021. We see there will be a steep decline,” she said.
In this connection, she called on the adoption of a law on renewable energy auctions by the end of the current year.
Ukraine has great potential for the development of other sectors of renewable energy, mainly biofuel and small hydro facilities, she said.
DEVELOPMENT, EUROPEAN BANK, INVEST, RECONSTRUCTION, RENEWABLE ENERGY
