Ukraine

Ukraine is a democratic semi-presidential state in Eastern Europe with direct access to the Black Sea. It borders Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. 

The country spreads across 603,549 km2 with a population of 43.4 million people and a capital city Kyiv. 

The Ukrainian renewable energy sector is rapidly developing, with a significant amount of RES added each year. It exploded in 2019 with 4,669 MW of renewable energy added to the grid. Since this time, the amount of energy produced by green means of production steadily increases. As of the beginning of 2022, the installed capacities of RES in Ukraine are 7,586 MW from solar power (including residential), 6,318 MW from hydropower (including small hydro), 1,672 MW from wind power and 275.9 MW from biogas power plants. Without hydropower, the share of the rest of RES installed capacities accounts for 16% of the country’s installed capacity of the Integrated Power System (IPS) of Ukraine. The share of generation is, however, is 14.3%, excluding large hydropower.

Ukraine is an emerging RES market that has largely untapped potential. Before 2019 RES were not a major part of the Ukrainian energy system. However, with the introduction of the support schemes, the market exploded and since then expanded significantly. Ukraine hydropower potential is 21.5 TWh annually. Wind power is projected to have 16-24 GW potential output, while solar is said to have around 4 GW. 

The Ukrainian power grid is interconnected with all the neighbouring countries: Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, and Romania. Ukraine used to rely mostly on its electricity exchange with Russia, but since 2014, it had worked towards greater energy autonomy and integration in the European electricity market. In 2021 Ukraine was a net electricity exporter with 3,395 million kWh exported and 1,692 million kWh imported.