CIF endorses Ukraine’s $116.2 million investment plan for renewable energy integration and energy storage

The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Governing Board has endorsed Ukraine’s $116.2 million investment plan under the Renewable Energy Integration (REI) program.

The endorsement of the investment plan does not mean that Ukraine has already received $116.2 million in funding. The next step will be for Ukraine, together with its partner multilateral development banks, to develop individual projects and submit them for approval. Once approved, the respective projects will be eligible to receive CIF financing.

CIF financing can include concessional loans, grants and other financial instruments. Its catalytic funding is designed to help mobilize additional public and private investment in support of countries’ climate and development objectives.

The implementation of Ukraine’s investment plan is expected to help mobilize an additional approximately $693.8 million from the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the private sector and other sources.

The investment plan focuses on strengthening the resilience of Ukraine’s energy system, integrating a greater share of renewable and decentralized generation, expanding cross-border electricity interconnections and developing energy storage systems.

One of the planned areas is the construction of the 400 kV Chernivtsi–Suceava interconnector between Ukraine and Romania. According to preliminary estimates, the interconnector is expected to add approximately 880 MW of transmission capacity towards Ukraine and 445 MW towards the European electricity system.

A separate component of the investment plan focuses on the private sector and the development of battery energy storage systems (BESS). The proposed projects are expected to support the deployment of up to 610 MW of new energy storage capacity.

According to CIF, energy storage systems are particularly important for Ukraine because they can be deployed and scaled relatively quickly. They can provide system balancing and reserve capacity while also helping reduce the curtailment of renewable electricity generation.

The development of energy storage, new cross-border interconnections and greater integration of decentralized generation is expected to strengthen the resilience of Ukraine’s energy system and support its further integration into the European energy market.

Source: Climate Investment Funds (CIF)