“Photo by UNIANUkrainian companies have built hundreds of megawatts of distributed generation capacity for their own needs and are in no hurry to connect such stations to the power system due to the unresolved problem of debts on…”, — write: www.unian.ua
Photo by UNIANUkrainian companies have built hundreds of megawatts of distributed generation capacity for their own needs and are in no hurry to connect such stations to the power system due to the unresolved debt problem in the electricity market. This was reported by Andrian Prokip, an energy expert at the Ukrainian Future Institute.“Debts on the market, in particular on the balancing market, remain a problem and an obstacle for profitable work. A situation arises when, after selling electricity, you can wait a year and a half to receive funds. And such a situation, of course, does not encourage “entering the market” even for those who has already built its own generation,” said Prokip.
According to him, there is a clear trend in Ukraine of commercial electricity consumers building generation for self-sufficiency and without connecting to the grid – exclusively for their own needs.
“Last year, the business put into operation more than 500 MW without connecting to the networks,” said Prokip.
According to the expert, business representatives may not understand the specifics of connecting to the network and working in the market in order to trade electricity, earn money and quickly return the funds invested in power generation.
“However, it is obvious that in the case of expected revenues from such activities, the business would quickly overcome this barrier of lack of knowledge and experience,” Prokip noted.
He said that in 2024 debt on the balancing market to NEC “Ukrenergo” increased by 12.7% and reached UAH 34.5 billion. In turn, Ukrenergo’s debt to balancing service providers amounted to UAH 13.6 billion.
“Proactive measures are needed – a systemic policy that would be able to balance the market and gradually rid it of its debts. This is a key prerequisite for the emergence of a new generation, which is extremely necessary in conditions when the enemy of the regular power system is destroying the power system. Administrative methods and bureaucratic orders to build a new generation will not work,” – the expert summarized.
As previously reported, according to experts, the government, parliament and the National Energy Commission should save the energy industry from paralysis due to the existing multibillion-dollar debts, which are constantly increasing.