Those who gathered at the Ukraine House in Davos on the morning of Jan. 23 to listen to a panel of several experts on renewable energy must have left the talk feeling, well, energized.
While all the speakers on the “Making the Planet Great Again: Charging Ahead with Renewable Energy” panel admitted there was still much work to be done, they brimmed with confidence, praising the country for progress it has made with renewables after starting from scratch barely two decades ago.
Kyiv totally abandoned energy efficiency projects on the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and after that became deeply reliant on Russian gas, but since 2009 – and even more so since 2014 – much has changed, panelists agreed.
To gain energy independence from Moscow, Ukraine went from importing 74 percent of its gas from Russia in 2014, to 100 percent from Europe in 2016, according to state oil and gas company Naftogaz of Ukraine.
Panelist Janez Kopač, the director of the European Energy Community Secretariat, acknowledged that Ukraine still has a long way to go. However, its proven willingness to work in cooperation with the West on energy matters is a promising trend, he said.
A member of the European Energy Community – a group of countries that plans to adopt the European Union’s internal energy market legislation – Ukraine greatly accelerated its reforms following the EuroMaidan Revolution by adopting the gas and electricity law designed by the European Energy Community in only a few months – a record in legislative matters, especially in Ukraine.
Even though the country has yet to develop this sector to become less dependent on Russia and more self-sustainable, Carl Sturen – the founder and CEO of Windcraft Ukraine – considers the solutions to be close at hand – and in the hands of lawmakers. The necessary changes, he said, simply “need to be instigated by good legislation.”
And as David Corchia – CEO of TOTAL Eren –put it: Ukraine is “a country blessed with a lot of wind, in which we can invest at a cost that makes sense.” Corchia said any country trying to invest in renewable energy should first look to develop the resources they have in abundance.
Wrapping up, Michael Yurkovich, the CEO of TIU Canada, energized the room with a charge of optimism: “This is a country using the best practices in the world. Transition and stability are going to create a good economy, and it will become one of the great energy renaissance stories.”
As the Kyiv Post reported a few months ago, Yurkovich’s company is to open its first 10.7 megawatt solar power plant in the city of Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, this January.
The Ukraine House Davos, which opened on Jan. 21, runs until Jan. 25, at 62 Promenade in Davos, Switzerland. The event was organized by the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, and Horizon Capital.
