Nowadays, in the conditions of war, Ukraine has a unique opportunity to build a new, more conscious society, a new economy and energy industry, where green energy should be a priority. Ihor Retivov, senior manager of regulatory affairs of DTEK Renewables, said this during the annual European-Ukrainian Energy Day conference, organized by the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency (EUEA).
"Renewables is no longer a trend, but an ideology. It began at the moment when the European states realized that dependence on gas from the aggressor country cannot prevail on the European continent and something must be done about it. Currently, this ideology is becoming a state policy for many," he added.
As Ihor Retivov pointed out, before the invasion of Russia, Ukraine had about 9 GW of green capacities, a large part of which is now located in the temporarily occupied territories, but even the existing reserves of renewable energy enterprises allowed the state to earn from exporting electricity to the EU for more than three months.
At the same time, Ihor Retivov emphasized during his speech that despite the existing artificial problems, imperfection of the legislation and the peculiarities of the young electricity market, the renewable energy sector will definitely develop in Ukraine in the future, however, how quickly it will happen and whether it will be with obstacles for investors – it depends on the actions of the state.
"There are only two obstacles and tasks. The first is to restore the trust of investors to show that we are a civilized country that fulfills its obligations to investors. Second, the state must decide what it wants to see in energy. When this definition will be put into one document, legal succession and consistency will be ensured, regardless of the change of leadership or political forces in the country, when the market will work normally - then the renewable energy industry will develop," Ihor Retivov concluded.
The agency held the 13th European-Ukrainian Energy Day in Vienna due to the risks of holding such an event in Ukraine. Other speakers on the panel were Dirk Buschle, Deputy Director of Energy Community Secretariat, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of NPC “Ukrenergo”, Yuri Kubrushko, EUEA Board Member, Oleg Dobrovolsky, Regional Director of I-REC, and Loic Lerminiaux, Country Representative of Guris.
