Ukraine’s green energy revolution has its problems – but it isn’t a pipe dream

The programme’s success has brought its own issues, but there is hope, writes Vladislav Inozemtsev

Renewable energy is becoming increasingly important (Getty)

For decades, Ukraine was considered an economy dominated by heavy industries, marked by oligarchic conflicts and famous for the risks foreign investors faced in trying to set up businesses. Its European-ness was manifested much more by devoted citizens sacrificing their lives for western values then by government accountability or judicial transparence. But today Ukraine is increasingly a part of Europe when it comes to energy issues.

If immediate measures are not taken, energy collapse awaits Ukraine in the coming years. There is a high share of obsolescent energy grids, suffering from advanced wear and tear, which also hinder the development of renewable energy.

The gradual shift towards renewables appears a pan-European trend with central and eastern European nations lagging behind Germany, the Nordics and other western nations. For many years the post-Soviet countries were outsiders in the renewables game, with Russia still producing just 0.42 per cent of its elect­ricity needs by solar and wind power, followed by Belarus with 1.2 per cent, compared to the UK, where 26 per cent of electricity came from wind and solar in 2019. Until 2010 Ukraine relied on obsolete nuclear and coal-fuelled thermal power sta­tions built in Soviet times. But then everything has changed.