On 06 February 6, 2024, the UWEA joined a seminar organized by the UWEA’s member – law firm Asters “Prospects for connecting wind energy projects to the grid”, dedicated to the need to reform approaches to issuing technical specifications for connecting wind farms to the grid and rationalizing the cost of such connection.
Oleksandr Zhygalyuk, Head of the Transmission System Development Department at NPC “Ukrenergo”, noted that before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, technical specifications for new RES capacities totaling 17 GW were issued, which, accordingly, raised the issue of balancing to a new level of importance. Thus, according to pre-war estimates, to balance this capacity, it’s also necessary to add 1.4 GW of maneuvering capacity in the form of gas turbines and about 700 MW of energy storage systems to the system. “Even though since the beginning of the war, the system operator has faced the problem of capacity shortages and changes in the structure of the grid, Ukrenergo has already developed several projects, including interstate ones, and has a vision for the development of certain voltage classes in order, to first of all, to fulfill all its obligations to restore the grid, normalize the structure of energy consumption by region and promote the harmonious integration of all planned RES projects into the integrated power system of Ukraine,” Mr. Zhyhaliuk outlined the current situation.
Andriy Konechenkov, Chairman of the UWEA Board, presented the current state of the wind power sector in Ukraine and the impact of the full-scale war on it and drew attention to the key barriers to the procedure for connecting wind farms to the grid, which are summarized in the UWEA’s Concept for the Development of Wind Energy in Ukraine until 2030. “Bringing the issue of the importance of building energy
storage systems to a new level of importance in the Ukrainian market is a very positive trend that directly determines the future of our energy system. Decentralization is what the Ukrainian energy system needs most of all now,” emphasized Mr. Konechenkov.
The issue of decentralization’s impact on wind energy projects was discussed in more detail by Marta Galabala, Counsel at Asters, Head of Environmental and Sustainable Development Practice, and member of the UWEA Legal Committee.
Loic Lermigneau, Guris representative, the UWEA Board Member, raised the issue of combined use of RES generation facilities with energy storage systems. Mr. Zhyhalyuk supported this idea but noted that its implementation depends on resolving a number of technical and regulatory issues.
Ihor Retivov, Head of Regulatory Affairs at DTEK Renewables and member of the UWEA Legal Committee, continued Mr. Konechenkov’s presentation by reviewing the activities of the working group involving the NEURC and NPC Ukrenergo to improve the conditions for connection in Ukraine and more efficient use of the power grid.
In their joint presentation, members of the UWEA Legal Committee Yaroslav Petrov, PartnerAssociate at Asters, and Maksym Sysoev, PafrtnerAssociate at Dentons, based on cases from more than 10 European jurisdictions, proved that capacity reservation and the fight against dormant PPAs are quite common practices that should be taken into account when developing the relevant regulation in Ukraine.
