KNESS team has recently come back from Energy Storage Day 2026 — one of Ukraine’s leading industry events dedicated to the development of energy storage technologies for building a decentralized and decarbonized energy system. The event was organized by UWEA. KNESS supported the conference as a strategic partner.
The event brought together key industry stakeholders: representatives of energy businesses, government officials, associations, and anyone interested in energy storage and renewable energy sources (RES). KNESS team attended the panel discussions both as attendees and as invited speakers.
At the conference, Serhii Kravchuk, Director of Electricity Trading and Supply in KNESS, and Tetiana Petrovska, Commercial Director in KNESS, presented KNESS’s experience and expertise in the field of ESS. Below you may find key points from their speeches.
Serhii Kravchuk on the experience of ESS dispatch control and digital flexibility management
- KNESS already has practical experience in the ancillary services market. Specifically, the company manages approximately 87 MW of ESS capacity in the frequency containment reserve segment, where the average service availability rate over the past six months was approximately 99%. Another approximately 55 MW is in the symmetric frequency restoration reserve segment, with an average service delivery rate of 98%. These results confirm the quality of service by our team. Thus, ESS systems are capable of ensuring stable operation in the system services segment and are therefore already a full-fledged component of the country’s energy flexibility.
- The ancillary services market is becoming saturated — the role of arbitrage models and combined strategies across different market segments is growing. According to KNESS experts, a promising model is one in which an energy storage system can purchase electricity on the balancing market and sell it on the “day-ahead” market. This is one option for a commercial strategy that, together with a flexible control algorithm, can significantly impact the project’s investment attractiveness. At the same time, the final economics of an ESS project depend not only on the market model but also on specific input parameters: CAPEX, connection costs, operating expenses, facility configuration, and the selected management logic.
- Investor interest in hybrid (“co-located”) solutions remains high due to several advantages. First, improved project efficiency in terms of grid connection (sharing the connection costs between two power units). Second, ESS enables the compensation of imbalances in renewable generation and improves the controllability of the facility.
- Regarding the configuration of equipment for ESS projects, there is no one-size-fits-all formula: each investor must calculate the model on a case-by-case basis, depending on CAPEX, the region, market strategy, and project objectives. However, for solar generation, a 1:4 ratio can serve as an optimal starting point, meaning 1 MW of connected solar capacity, 1 MW of power, and 4 MWh of ESS storage capacity.
- Today, the effectiveness of an ESS is determined not only by the equipment itself, but also by how well the project is integrated into the market and what dispatch system it uses. Practical experience has proven that KNESS’s EMS solution enables control of all key technical parameters of the main ESS components, allows for managing the “battery” separately or in conjunction with generation, smoothing out peaks, balancing the solar power plant, and automatically interacting with market platforms.
- Soon, KNESS, in its role as Aggregator, plans to obtain certification to provide ancillary services. This model will open up additional opportunities for members of the KNESS Aggregated Group to participate in the ancillary services market.
Tetiana Petrovska on practical case studies of ESS project implementation
In the panel discussion “From Agreements to Effective Assets,” which focused on practical case studies of ESS projects, Tetiana Petrovska focused on the current state of bankability for various storage models and why the Ukrainian market should not rely solely on a single format.
- Today, there are three main scenarios for ESS deployment: standalone, co-located (or “hybrid” projects combined with generation), and behind-the-meter: solutions for self-consumption, energy independence, and local flexibility.
- Compared to hybrid projects, standalone solutions often demonstrate a higher return on investment. Based on KNESS’s experience, the IRR of standalone projects can be, on average, 8–10% higher than that of hybrid solutions. However, this does not mean that standalone projects should be the market’s sole priority, as everything depends on the input data and the project client’s needs. The financial model must incorporate all relevant information: when the project will be built, what its CAPEX will be, and so on. Only then can an investor obtain a clear calculation of the payback period for a specific project.
- The Ukrainian energy system needs all types of ESS projects, but in the right balance. Standalone ESS is one of the tools for ensuring grid flexibility at the national level. Hybrid projects help integrate RES into the power grid and make generation more controllable. Behind-the-meter solutions strengthen the energy independence of communities and businesses and form the foundation of distributed energy.
- ESS cannot replace power generation, but they facilitate the integration of solar and wind power plants into the grid, help reduce operational constraints of RES operation during peak generation periods, and enable their energy to be shifted to hours of peak demand.
- There is high demand for various types of ESS projects. KNESS currently has approximately 900 MWh of energy storage systems which the company supplies and/or implements for both its own projects and those of its customers.
- Based on experience, one of the main risks in implementing ESS projects is securing financing in a timely manner. Access to financing directly affects equipment delivery schedules, grid connection timelines, and the actual pace of project implementation. Equally critical is the team’s expertise in the Ukrainian market: experience in development, commissioning, maintenance, commercial management, and so on.
- The cost of equipment depends on the project scale, the configuration of the containers, connection costs, and the global supply chain. On the one hand, technological advancements are driving prices down. On the other hand, customs duties and foreign trade conditions are changing, which can affect the final CAPEX. Therefore, it is better not to delay the project implementation.
- We recommend that investors consider not only the base price, but also the quality, safety, and certification of the equipment. Priority should be given to solutions backed by verified European certifications and a manufacturer with a solid reputation. Equipment from Tier 1 manufacturers such as that from our manufacturing partner Hithium are worth prioritizing.
We would like to thank the organizers and all participants of Energy Storage Day 2026 for the fruitful discussions and keen interest in our experience. It is valuable that today we are all working together to scale up ESS projects toward an important goal: a sustainable, flexible, and modern Ukrainian power grid.
