“Low Carbon Ukraine” focuses on the Ukraine’s electricity market reform and power system development. We provide regular information and analysis on these topics.

BACKGROUND

Ukraine’s installed RES capacity of PV, wind, bioenergy and small hydro impressively increased by more than 50% in 2018 alone and will triple from 2,1 GW in 2018 to 6,7 GW in 2021, surpassing a 7% share of the country’s electricity generation. However, the further growth will slow down after retrospective FIT cut and delayed introduction of RE auctions. The increasing share of renewables, however, requires more flexibility in the system and smart market design without sacrificing the security of supply and electricity costs. 

On the technical side, Ukraine’s power system is dominated by baseload generation and lacks interconnection capacities. The issues of resource adequacy, sufficient reserves and balancing capacities, regional allocation of new capacities and the curtailment of (excess) renewable energy are in the focus of our analysis. We developed a model of Ukraine’s electricity system to evaluate policy options to foster further RES integration.

On the regulatory side, Ukraine has started the electricity market liberalisation in 2019, and the reform goes slowly. The market is characterised by few dominant market players, the prices for households are strictly regulated and do not cover the total cost. Since the opening, the market has been under strong regulatory control, while the legislative framework remains volatile, wholesale prices are under strict control and limited by the price caps, and market power is not effectively addressed. LCU closely monitors the market development and provides advise on short- and long-term policy measures that will enable competition and attract new investments in Ukraine’s electricity sector. 

Modelling Ukraine’s Electricity System

LCU developed a model of the Ukrainian electricity system to analyse development scenarios of the electricity system. The model provides the cost-optimal dispatch of the Ukrainian electricity system for every hour of the year and thus determines which plant types and transmission capacities should be used in which region of the country.

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LCU Publications on Ukraine’s electricity market

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