Ukraine has a chance to become one of Europe’s leading energy suppliers of ‘clean fuel’. We need to unlock our enormous potential for green energy. We have a chance to establish a competitive green hydrogen ecosystem in Ukraine including production, storage, and transportation of hydrogen.
I strongly believe that we should use this chance, despite such tragic and unfair cruel actions, and sustainably build better Ukraine, with new green technologies targeting to strengthen the whole European energy system on the way to decarbonisation goals and energy independence.
Dr Yulia Rybak calls to come up with innovative ideas that will accelerate Ukraine’s energy transition, and promotes the initiative, launched by the German-Ukrainian Energy Partnership in cooperation with the Women’s Energy Club of Ukraine, aimed to support highly qualified women working in the energy sector, who were forced to leave Ukraine.
German-Ukrainian Energy Partnership was established almost 2 years ago as a political platform targeted at supporting green energy transition and decarbonisation of the Ukrainian and German energy systems. Energy partnership has proved to be an efficient vehicle for supporting Ukraine’s energy sector, especially at such a challenging time as the time of cruel, unprecedented and unprovoked armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine. During the six months of the full-scale war, despite huge challenges, including bombing and damage of the critical energy infrastructure, as well as threats of nuclear terrorism, the Ukrainian energy system proved its resilience. The main activities under the Partnership were reformulated with a focus on providing emergency assistance to secure stability of the country’s energy sector. This included humanitarian aid from German energy associations and companies, procurement of items related to emergency energy needs, provision of expert support and technical capabilities to increase the export potential of Ukraine's power system, as well as support in the development of a Recovery Plan for the Ukrainian Energy Sector.
Ukraine’s recovery will cover the period of 2022-2032 and will take approximately USD 750 Bn in aggregate, excluding security and military expenditures.
One of the biggest challenges is attracting financial resources. Another one is non-payments. Hence, it is crucial to find affordable financial instruments and donor support, and attract funding for the relocation of SMEs. Considering that a significant number of RES units have been disconnected, there is a need to support relocation and further development of renewable energy facilities, with an account of new conditions and opportunities given Ukraine’s integration with ENTSO-E. Replacement of natural gas with sustainable bioenergy, production of biomethane, as well as swift electrification of transport and heating should be top-prioritised.