Development of the biogas and biomethane market in Ukraine: what the panelists discussed

On Thursday, August 29, an online panel discussion “Biogas and Biomethane: New Opportunities for Ukraine’s Energy Independence” was held.

The event was organized by the UN Global Compact in Ukraine in cooperation with ExPro Consulting and the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine as part of the Ukraine Energy Initiative.

The panelists – government officials, business representatives and experts – discussed the place of biogas and biomethane in the Ukrainian economy and energy sector. They also discussed the prospects for the development of this sector and the pitfalls, in particular for potential investors.

“The development of the renewable gas market is important for both Ukraine and the European Union,” Ihor Kovalev, Director General of the Directorate for Resource Efficient Transformation at the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine said.

Olena Lenska, Director of the Department of Renewable Energy at the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving, drew attention to the pitfalls that a national biogas register could create for exporters: “It is necessary to formulate a request to the European Union right now to clarify whether the introduction of the Ukrainian biomethane register will not create an additional obstacle in this export issue.”

Oleg Ryabov, Deputy CEO for Economics at Gals Agro, is convinced that the biogas market will be a market for small producers and owners of raw materials in the future. And in terms of potential investors, Ukraine is not so optimistic. “We are not very welcome in the EU with our biomethane, because investors will need to insure not only military risks, but also political risks,” he said.

At the same time, Vitaliy Radchenko, managing partner of CMS in Ukraine, emphasized that although Western European countries, especially France and Denmark, are far ahead of others in biogas development, Ukrainian producers and exporters have prospects. “In general, Eastern Europe is a desert in terms of biomethane plants,” he said.

Georgii Geletukha, Chairman of the Board of the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine, noted that the biomethane production market in Europe is growing globally. He cited statistics and compared development trends with the goals for 2030, and spoke about biogas/biomethane in Ukraine. Thus, there are 83 biogas plants in Ukraine with an installed capacity of 140 MW.

He also drew attention to what hinders the development of biogas in Ukraine. “There is no single public authority that will push the biomethane sector forward!” said Geletukha, among other things.

In turn, the NEURC representatives assured that they are ready to listen to industry representatives and take into account their claims: “We heard about the problems with the long terms of obtaining technical specifications and their signing by the DSOs. We are always ready to cooperate and work to resolve them.”

More details about the discussion can be found on the UABIO website.