At the second session of the X Business & Legal Energy Forum, Igor Retivov, partner at Altelaw & Sempra, outlined the challenges and prospects for the development of renewable energy. He emphasized that distributed generation is primarily an opportunity to flexibly supply communities, businesses, and territories with electricity depending on economic or technological factors. However, the current legislation does not yet allow the full potential of distributed generation to be unlocked. One possible solution could be the introduction of microgrids, which in Ukraine currently exist only in limited forms — for example, through the concepts of an active consumer and a third party — or as a purely legislative construct of small distribution systems, which are most likely to first appear in industrial parks.
According to the speaker, many investors are already entering the market by purchasing equipment without a clear strategy for its future use. In the long run, this could lead to saturation of generating capacities and energy storage systems, which will inevitably affect the profitability of existing financial models. At the same time, a new segment is emerging — “energy as a service”, where investors approach consumers with ready-to-use energy supply solutions. With the growing penetration of renewable generation, demand will also increase for flexibility and deferred consumption, which in turn will become a new product for energy storage system operators.
“All of this will reduce electricity transmission and distribution volumes and push businesses and communities toward building their own generation. While this is logical under wartime conditions, such a model is not the ultimate goal for the country’s energy system, as it creates both technical and economic challenges for market participants at all stages — from production to consumption. Therefore, it is important to start thinking about the future of the system and the consumer: how to incentivize them so that using the energy system is not only beneficial and cost-saving, but also profitable — and without discrimination,” Igor Retivov stressed.
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