Sergii Shakalov, СЕО of KNESS spoke at at the conference "Green Energy for Recovery" of the think tank We build Ukraine

“Ukraine has prospects for developing solar energy, and it is completely market-driven” — mentioned Sergii Shakalov, СЕО of KNESS, during the conference of the think tank We build Ukraine “Green Energy for Recovery”. The event brought together key stakeholders in Ukraine’s renewable energy sector to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the green transition.

Key takeaways from Sergii Shakalov’s speech: 

Prospects for solar energy: active development of distributed generation on the consumer side

We are currently observing high demand for the construction of solar power plants for own consumption, as well as for grid-connected solar power plants using energy storage systems. These two main behavior patterns for the use of solar power plants are commercially attractive even without any support mechanisms. Why? Currently, it is relatively simple and cost-effective to build solar power plants in terms of optimizing electricity costs. There is also access to a significant number of financial programs for the implementation of such projects.

Solar power plants with energy storage facilities — a sustainable business model

We are actively implementing projects for the construction of solar power plants with energy storages within the “cable pooling” model. This is a fairly stable business model, as this mix is complementary and balanced. There is also the possibility of adding other generating facilities to this system if required by the consumer.

Ukraine’s energy system needs balancing capacity  

The United Energy System of Ukraine needs more balancing capacity, in particular due to the seasonal nature of solar generation, which is in surplus for about six months of the year. Given the active development of energy storage facilities, it is expected that in the next 2-3 years there will be enough industrial battery storage systems that will shift this problem to the back burner. However, with the development of solar power plants for own consumption, which are connected only to the consumer’s internal grids without outputting energy to the general grid, we may face another problem — the accumulation of a significant amount of “invisible” generation. What does this mean? It refers to energy that is not accounted for in the overall balance in terms of consumption, which can lead to unpredictable situations and complicate the stable operation of the power system. The Aggregator can solve the problem of managing such capacities.

Are you interested in the topic? You can watch a recording of the conference at the following link.