UWEA summarized the results of 2024 for wind energy in Ukraine

On December 12, 2024, the UWEA held a final press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine media center on the results of the development of the Ukrainian wind energy market in 2024.

At the beginning of the press conference, Andriy Konechenkov, Chairman of the UWEA Board, briefly outlined the current state of the wind energy market, noting that “compared to previous years, 2024 can be called a failure, as only 20 MW of new wind power capacity was commissioned.”

“This year, the market had high hopes for the launch of new market support mechanisms, such as the market premium mechanism and green auctions. However, neither the former is working properly nor the latter has been successful. Now, during a large-scale war, it is not the best time to conduct experiments on business, on the contrary, business should be seen as a partner,” added the UWEA Chairman.

The speakers, representatives of leading wind energy companies, shared their own experience of doing business in 2024.

Ihor Retivov, Head of Regulatory Affairs at DTEK Renewables and member of the UWEA Legal Committee, hopes that this year has become a preparatory year for future positive changes in the market, as reforms take time.

“At present, DTEK Renewables is not going to rest on its laurels, we continue the construction of the second stage of Tiligulska wind farm and develop new wind farm projects in Poltava and Vinnytsia regions. In total, our portfolio of future projects is more than 1 GW. However, we have also opened another area, namely the construction of energy storage systems. We plan to build 200 MW of such systems,” said Retivov.

Olga Rybachuk, Managing Director of Elementum Energy and member of the UWEA Board, spoke about the logistical problems faced by wind farm operators.

“We also continue to operate. Now, in particular, we are developing 200 MW of new wind power capacities in different parts of Odesa region, which will be ready for construction next year. However, we still need a number of decisive political decisions to support this energy segment, in particular, in terms of unblocking the seaports of Odesa, namely Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk, as the project budget is significantly increasing due to difficulties in delivering equipment to the site,” Rybachuk said.

She also said that on December 11, Elementum Energy successfully closed the acquisition of a 200MW wind power project in western Ukraine. The expected annual generation of new wind farms will be about 700 GWh, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of about 600 thousand people.

Oleksandr Podprugin, Deputy Chairman of the UWEA Board and Regional Manager of Notus Energy, spoke about his company’s plans and the obstacles that prevent them from being realized. “Our company entered the Ukrainian wind energy market in 2019, already having an idea for several projects. The construction of one of them was planned for 2022, but did not take place due to Russia’s invasion,” Podprugin said. ”Now we are working to launch this construction in 2025. It will be a 120 MW wind farm in Odesa region. However, the main investment problem of the Ukrainian market is scaling, because all the projects that are being built or developed today are exceptions. Business, in fact, is experiencing a critical lack of full-fledged mechanisms for financing wind energy projects on the scale that the power system needs.”

In his turn, Vladyslav Yeremenko, CEO of Wind Parks of Ukraine, spoke about the experience of relocating capacities to another region of Ukraine, namely Transcarpathia. “Relocating our production from east to west was an important step for its further sustainable operation. Although our company also faces the same problems as other market players, we try to find extraordinary solutions. For example, we have created our own logistics company, Friendly Logistics LLC, and are developing an entire industrial park in Zakarpattia. We are also building the first wind farm in the same region: two wind turbines have already been put into operation and a substation is being completed. We plan to complete the construction in May 2025. In total, our portfolio of future projects is 1.5 GW.”

During the press conference, Yeryomenko also shared his unique experience of cooperation with local communities in Zakarpattia, measures to preserve the valuable ecosystems of the Carpathians, and the development of a network of social housing for IDPs.

The second part of the press conference was devoted to discussing current regulatory challenges and barriers that are a significant obstacle for international and national investors. They discussed green auctions, free market trading, and the market premium mechanism. In particular, regarding the latter, Olga Rybachuk noted that “for 10 months now, no payment has been received for all Elementum companies that are part of this mechanism. In addition, the companies that have chosen this mechanism are significantly discriminated against, as they receive 3-4 times more unloading commands than those companies that are still in the green tariff system.”

Oleksandr Podpruhin, once again returning to the problem of attracting financing for new wind energy projects, emphasized that an effective solution to this could be the mechanism of corporate PPAs, the stability of which would be ensured by a special Fund to guarantee the minimum price of electricity in the market.

The UWEA representatives concluded their discussion by reflecting on the creation of a separate institution at the state level that would deal with the development of green energy in Ukraine. “Such a body can really shift the focus of business from solving some regulatory problems to implementing projects and innovations,” emphasized Vladyslav Yeremenko.