Alternative Energy in Ukraine: Key Trends and Development Prospects
Kyiv • UNN
Svyatoslav Pavlyuk spoke about the development of renewable energy to reduce imports. Currently, it is only capable of powering critical urban infrastructure.
Alternative or renewable energy is a set of technologies that allow for the generation of electricity, heat, and fuel from clean and inexhaustible natural resources instead of traditional fossil fuels. These resources either exist constantly or appear periodically in nature, such as solar, wind, or water energy. Alternative energy does not produce harmful waste and does not destroy the ecosystem. In a comment to UNN, Svyatoslav Pavlyuk, Executive Director of the Association of Energy Efficiency of Cities, spoke about the types of alternative energy and the prospects for its development in Ukraine.
Alternative energy in Ukraine: what types exist
As Pavlyuk notes, Ukrainian legislation is moving away from the terminology "alternative energy" and is beginning to use the term "renewable energy."
That is, it refers to the accessibility of renewable energy sources—solar, wind, and geothermal energy. For some reason, it used to be called "alternative," but in fact, it is "renewable energy,"
Prospects for the development of alternative energy in Ukraine
According to him, Ukraine is an energy-deficient country, and we have always bought gas, imported oil, and imported nuclear fuel.
In other words, we do not have the necessary amount of resources to be an energy-independent country. Local energy sources provide an opportunity to sharply reduce these imports, which, accordingly, has a positive impact on both the energy balance and the country's balance of payments. Prospects in this direction are good; in particular, this is defined in our energy strategy and our foreign policy obligations,
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He emphasizes that the trend is clear: maximum use of local energy types and reduction of imports.
The same trend is present in the European Green Deal, of which we are a part. And overall, this is about reducing the dependence of all European countries on energy imports from, relatively speaking, Arab countries and Russia. That is, the civilizational change of the European Green Deal consists in abandoning fossil fuels and transitioning to local energy. Accordingly, we are part of this whole process, whether we like it or not,
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Which type of alternative energy is the most promising
He emphasizes that energy is divided, in particular, into two types: weather-dependent and weather-independent, and every system must have a "certain mix" of various sources in order to function normally.
If I'm not mistaken, in Tajikistan, 95% of energy is hydro generation. They have a lot of water; they have mountains. Similarly, there is a fundamental component in Norway and Switzerland. Therefore, for them, this part will be large, for example,
At the same time, he emphasizes that both wind turbines and "solar" are weather-dependent solutions.
That is, you must have a system that will maximize the use of local energy types and renewable sources: solar, wind, hydro resources, and supplement them with other maneuvering capacities that operate regardless of the weather. Because if we have winter, it's dark, cloudy, cold, and there's no wind, then all your alternative sources don't work. Accordingly, you need to have some nuclear energy in the base, some thermal power plants, or gas plants,
He emphasizes that, for example, in Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia, there are separate alternative energy stations; however, according to him, it is difficult to meet the full needs of the population with them, although they do exist.
That is, in every situation, in every country, in every region, you have a certain mix. For example, wind turbines can be installed near Odesa. Installing wind turbines somewhere, say, in Volyn—their productivity will be lower. Therefore, each time the local system will have a different mix of "solar," "wind," etc.,
In addition, he emphasizes that during the winter period, alternative energy is currently unable to meet the needs of the population. Using Zhytomyr as an example, he notes that the city has cogeneration machines that produce electricity and heat, and pellet boilers that work to provide heat using local energy types.
That is, they are there, but it is still far from the city's overall needs. Today, local energy is capable of meeting the needs of critical infrastructure, such as water utilities, municipal energy companies, for example, street lighting, but ensuring the operation of industry and providing a full supply of electricity to the population is currently impossible,
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