Page 79 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics
P. 79
A.Rozhko, H.Wiesmeth: Framework conditions for using renewable energy sources:
Quo Vadis, Ukraine?
private houses and biogas plants on agricultural farms in many countries are typical examples for
successfully “integrating” households and small enterprises into the underlying policy.
3.2. Remarks on an Integrated Energy Policy for Ukraine
In this section the above remarks will be translated into some basic principles of an
integrated energy policy for Ukraine.
1) Goals: From the above sections, in particular Section 2.2, the most important goal of
Ukraine regarding energy seems to be gain a higher degree of independence from imports of oil and
gas. Subgoals refer to increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption in general. In
addition, a certain share of the components for renewable energy plants must be Ukrainian-produced.
The crucial point is, of course, whether Ukraine can achieve these goals simultaneously in
not too long a period of time. One of the questions is, whether the Ukrainian industry can
provide the necessary equipment to satisfy the local-content requirement. Another question refers
to the incentives for the industry, which is still controlled to a substantial extent by the
government, for taking appropriate measures to increase the energy efficiency.
2) Financial Issues: Again from the above sections, it follows that renewable energies are
and will continue to be promoted through guaranteed feed-in tariffs. The open question in this
context is: who is going to pay for this «energy transition» in Ukraine?
This question is critical for at least two reasons. Firstly, electricity prices are currently heavily
subsidized in Ukraine. So, what is going to happen with these “political” prices for electrical energy?
Secondly, the subgoals of increasing energy efficiency and reducing consumption of energy are
dependent, at least to some extent, on higher prices of electrical energy.
3) Stakeholders: A fast transition to renewable energy sources requires the support, the
“integration”, of a large number of households and business companies. In this sense, Ukraine
plans to decentralize the market for producing and selling electrical energy form renewable
sources. Without this step, the market will be dominated by foreign producers such as the Active
Solar Group from Austria.
These remarks demonstrate that many relevant issues for a «sustainable energy supply» for
Ukraine are still unclear and need further attention. The multiple goals of the Ukrainian policy
can only be achieved with a holistic, integrated approach.
4. Summary
This paper first analyses the current structure of supply and consumption of energy in
78

