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Sergii Shakalov, СЕО and co-owner of KNESS Group, spoke at Forbes Ukraine’s annual energy development forum, “Energy of Business.” Leading industry stakeholders, including executives from the largest state-owned and private energy companies, investors, regulators, and consumers, discussed the energy system’s readiness for the coming winter, the sustainability of new business models, and opportunities for development in partnership.

Sergii Shakalov shared his experience in implementing energy storage systems (ESS) projects in a relevant thematic discussion: “Energy storage: store and sell.”

“KNESS Group has successfully and timely implemented a portfolio of energy storage system projects with a total capacity of over 100 MWh. For more than 20 days now, these ESSs have been providing ancillary services during this difficult time for the integrated power system. I believe that the key to the successful implementation of the project was the team itself, as well as the expertise accumulated over all previous years in the energy sector,” mentioned the CEO of KNESS.

Among other things, during the discussion panel, the main categories of business models using ESS were outlined:

1. “Standalone” — ESS as a standalone market participant. Such projects open up opportunities to use ESS for price arbitrage or to operate in the ancillary services market.
2. “Co-located” — ESS combined with an electricity generation unit. These are projects that allow electricity to be stored directly from the generation source, such as a solar or wind farm, or from the grid, and used for own consumption, RES balancing, price arbitrage, or ancillary services market operations.
3. “Behind the meter” — ESS for end consumers. Using the installation solely for electricity consumption at the required times.

“Companies and investors who come to us are looking for professional implementation and management. After all, an energy storage system can solve several problems: saving money on electricity consumption for the enterprise, moving closer to energy independence, and generating additional profit if used correctly. All these goals can only be achieved with professional implementation of such a project and high-quality subsequent management of electrical installations. This applies to both distributed, small-capacity ESS and large-capacity standalone projects. Effective management is the key to a stable return on investment” — highlighted Sergii Shakalov.

The experts also addressed the role of ESS in supporting Ukraine’s energy system. All participants in the discussion agreed that the need for ancillary services remains critical, but the energy storage market is responding to this need, developing and becoming saturated. Therefore, Ukraine is entering winter better prepared than last year. And the plans of energy companies for further development and implementation of new projects to strengthen the energy system indicate that our country is moving from a survival tactic to a long-term sustainability strategy.

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