Climate Wire | Talking about climate change and carbon-free electricity is not easy when your country is a battlefield.
This is the harsh reality faced by environmental advocates and clean energy companies in Ukraine following the Russian invasion. But as the fighting spurs rolling blackouts, renewables are gaining broad public support as a reliable source of power, they say.
Artem Semenyshyn, General Secretary of the Ukrainian Solar Energy Association, said:
Russia’s war in Ukraine has transformed global energy markets, accelerating the green transition in wealthy parts of Europe and forcing poorer countries to resort to dirtier fuels like coal. With coal, gas and nuclear resources in Ukraine, energy close to where it is needed is a top priority.
Renewables are valued for their near-term resilience, with small distributed systems, such as solar panels on the roofs of hospitals and homes, providing back-up power in the event of a grid failure. says Allegra Dawes. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The war, on the other hand, highlights the long-term role renewable energy can play in providing Ukraine with greater energy security and promoting integration with the European Union, which is committed to decarbonizing its energy system. is emphasized.
When signing a cooperation agreement with the International Energy Agency in December, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Garshchenko said the transition to carbon-free energy was the “cornerstone” of the recovery of the country’s energy sector.
The start of the invasion on February 24, 2022 coincided with a test by the Ukrainian state power company to cut power from the Russian and Belarusian grids. This put pressure on Ukrainian grid operators to quickly synchronize their grid with Europe’s, analysts say.
But the bigger challenge over the past year has been Russia’s targeting of key parts of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Attacks in recent months on substations, coal-fired power plants and other critical parts of the grid that are vital to the electricity supply have caused widespread blackouts, leaving millions temporarily without light, heat or water. is no longer available.
The war also undermined the country’s renewable energy ambitions.
Before the invasion, renewable energy accounted for more than 12% of Ukraine’s energy mix and was expanding rapidly. The government had aimed to get his 25% of the country’s energy from renewable sources by 2035. War according to the IEA.
But the war has imposed barriers to building utility-scale solar power, Semenyshyn said. Some renewable facilities were damaged by the fighting, and wind and solar facilities were most likely in the southern and southwestern parts of the country, i.e. under or controlled by Russia. region.
What has changed is the public perception of renewable energy.
After the fighting erupted, Semenyshyn said residential demand for small-scale solar power with storage batteries increased dramatically in areas with few other viable power options.
In the early days of the invasion, when electricity was cut off, some people with residential solar panels could not help their neighbors charge their cell phones and connect to the internet to read news about the invasion or to relatives. Semenisingh said he allowed them to send messages.
Evgeniy Yaremenko, who runs Solar Steelconstruction LLC, which installs photovoltaic units, has been working with the soldiers his company uses to charge their cell phones, to hospitals struggling to maintain a continuous supply of electricity. He said he started offering a stockpile of solar panels to everyone.
“Recently, they’ve changed people’s perceptions.
The Ukrainian Solar Association is also working to provide hospitals with solar and energy storage systems, especially in cities once occupied by Russia. Environmental groups such as Ecoclub, an NGO based in western Ukraine, are also involved in the effort.
Started by college students more than 20 years ago, the Eco Club has helped local governments build clean energy. In 2020, we installed the first power plant owned by a water utility in the city of Voznesensk. This investment allowed the city to continue to power pumping stations and provide water and sewage services to residents during power outages after the war began.
“These pilots are a good signal for communities to invest more in the direction of developing renewable energy,” said Eco Club Executive Director Andriy Martinuk.
The group has used its international links to deliver humanitarian aid to Ukraine and is now eyeing reconstruction plans to ensure that local governments are ready to implement environmentally sound projects. increase.
Semenyshyn said the country needs to promote smart grids and energy systems built around residential solar power. Several associations are calling for his 50% of Ukraine’s electricity production to come from wind, solar and other carbon-free electricity by 2030.
Like some of the country’s renewable energy companies, Semenisin believes the war has accelerated the shift away from fossil fuels. But he also knows there are threats to the transition by those who might use warfare as a way to justify building more natural gas and coal.
“Now we are at a crossroads,” he said.
Authorities are already pushing green rebuilding efforts. Last July’s National Recovery Plan called for spending about $130 billion on green energy development over the next decade. Many argue that renewable energy can reduce a country’s dependence on expensive and unstable fossil fuel imports. But analysts say it will depend heavily on external funding and investment, policy changes and transparency.
CSIS’s Dawes said the power generation capacity that could be delivered to Europe could help deployment, as it could stimulate needed investment in Ukraine’s power grid. But the road ahead will not be easy.
“I think we underestimated that there is also an energy battlefield. Not just a weapons battlefield, but energy is a huge battlefield,” said Semenisingh.
Reprinted from E&E News with permission of POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2023. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environmental professionals.
