What is the future of green energy in Ukraine?

In 2020, Ukraine became one of the top 5 countries developing solar energy.
At the beginning of 2022, the total capacity of renewable energy sources reached 9656 MW.

However, the full-scale invasion has had a significant impact on the industry. The total installed capacity of industrial solar power plants in Ukraine is 6226.9 MW, of which about 60% are located in the Southern and South-Eastern regions. This 60% corresponds to 3700 MW.
According to various estimates, 30-40% of farms in the areas of influence of the occupiers were affected, which corresponds to 1120-1150 MW of installed capacity.

The most affected area was the Mykolaiv energy hub. It is also known that 100% of solar power plants in Kharkiv region were completely destroyed.

As for wind farms, their total installed capacity in Ukraine is 1673 MW. Wind farms are mainly located in Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Lviv regions.

According to the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association, more than 2/3 of Ukrainian wind farms have been shut down due to Russian aggression. The installed capacity of enterprises producing electricity and heat from biomass in Ukraine is 224.5 MW, of which 119.1 MW is produced from biomass and 105.4 MW from biogas.

According to various estimates, 10-15% of the installed capacity is under the influence of the occupiers. This primarily concerns the cities under fire and areas of active hostilities – the northern and southern parts of Kharkiv region, Sumy region, Mykolaiv district and Zhytomyr region.

What are the prospects for green energy and what should be done?

To further develop this industry, we believe the following actions will be effective

access to a new fund for the restoration of Ukraine’s war-damaged energy infrastructure, created by the European Energy Community for destroyed and damaged renewable energy facilities;
Assistance (tax benefits, free land lease and tax exemption for five years, connection to favourable power grids, etc;)
preferential treatment for renewable energy companies in the day-ahead market to reduce the burden on state-owned enterprises under the feed-in tariff;
special incentives for the production of renewable gases (green hydrogen and renewable synthetic methane, biomethane).