BESS During Wartime: Fast Deployment Today, Legal Responsibility Tomorrow

Since the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine’s energy policy has shifted from long-term regulatory planning to rapid crisis response. The primary objective has become ensuring the survivability, resilience, and operational continuity of the energy system under conditions of physical destruction, power shortages, and grid instability.

In this context, battery energy storage systems (BESS) have moved from being a “future-oriented technology” to a practical and essential tool for energy security today.

Wartime Regulation as a Separate Legal Framework for Energy Projects

Beginning in 2023, Ukraine introduced a special wartime legal framework aimed at accelerating the deployment of distributed generation and energy storage infrastructure. This framework does not eliminate regulation altogether; rather, it temporarily postpones a number of procedures that are mandatory under peacetime conditions.

The simplified regime applies to a broad range of energy assets, including generators, cogeneration units, modular boiler houses, energy storage systems, and related engineering networks.

A key regulatory shift at the end of 2025 was the removal of all capacity thresholds for BESS. As a result, the simplified procedure now applies equally to large-scale industrial projects and to smaller systems deployed by businesses or municipal infrastructure operators.

What “Simplified Procedure” Means in Practice

Under the wartime framework, BESS projects can be deployed without completing many of the standard regulatory steps typically required for construction and commissioning. In particular, projects may proceed without:

• urban planning documentation and zoning approvals;

• urban development conditions and restrictions;

• mandatory project design expertise;

• formal permits for construction works;

• full commissioning certification procedures.

Land plots may also be used without changing their designated purpose, subject to agreement with the landowner or authorized land manager.

In practical terms, the state has adopted the following approach:

first — deploy and operate critical energy infrastructure;
later — align it with the full regulatory framework.

A Critical Caveat: This Is a Deferral, Not an Amnesty

One of the most common misconceptions is to treat the simplified wartime regime as permanent legalization. In reality, it operates under the principle of “operate now, legalize later.”

After the termination or cancellation of martial law, all facilities deployed under the simplified procedure must be brought into full compliance with standard legal requirements. This includes:

• formalization of land use rights, where required;

• development of full project design documentation;

• completion of mandatory project expertise;

• official commissioning and registration of the facility.

Failure to complete these steps creates significant legal and financial risks, including limitations on operation, barriers to financing or insurance, and challenges related to asset transfer or sale.

Implications for Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Development

For the renewable energy sector, the current regulatory approach represents a window of opportunity, but not a shortcut without consequences.

Today, BESS already:

• enhance grid resilience and flexibility;

• enable higher penetration of renewable energy sources;

• reduce operational risks for businesses and critical infrastructure.

At the same time, each project implemented under wartime conditions should incorporate a post-war legal compliance strategy as an integral part of its financial and investment planning.

Conclusion

The simplified regime for battery energy storage systems is an emergency response tool, designed to function under extraordinary circumstances rather than as a permanent regulatory model.

For Ukraine, it provides an opportunity to rapidly strengthen energy flexibility and lay the groundwork for post-war energy transformation.
For businesses and investors, it offers speed — but only when combined with foresight, legal planning, and long-term responsibility.

This is how the foundations of a resilient, decentralized, and renewable energy system for Ukraine are being built today.