The Ukrainian energy sector remains one of the key targets of the enemy, which attacks the facilities of generation, distribution of electricity and gas infrastructure. At the same time, the government emphasizes that the significant burden of the next winter's problems falls on communities, which must provide residents with the necessary energy resources thanks to the creation of a network of distributed generation.

According to the definition of specialists, distributed generation objects are RES generation objects - solar, wind, hydropower plants with a capacity of up to 20 MW - and cogeneration plants that produce energy in the process of burning natural gas, biomass or solid household waste.

"Ukrainian Energy" learned how experts assess the general preparation of local authorities for the implementation of distributed generation facilities, why a significant number of communities are not ready to implement international aid projects, and what approach helps successful communities prepare for winter in wartime.

Communities must prepare for emergency situations - Ministry of Reconstruction

 

The authorities started preparing for the winter season in May 2024 with the creation of the Headquarters for the preparation of housing and energy services for the winter of 2024/2025 under martial law. This consultative and advisory body of the Cabinet of Ministers included representatives of eight ministries, NCRECP, specialized committees of the VRU, associations and state energy companies. 

The main task of the Headquarters was determined by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers to coordinate the actions of central and local executive bodies to ensure the preparation of the communal sphere and energy industry for winter, the preparation of proposals for solving problematic issues and the analysis of the state of their implementation.

In October, the sixth meeting of the Staff was held, at which the participants considered the situation in the regions. It was said that in general the regions are 99% ready for winter. In particular, more than 18,000 boiler houses and 4,800 central heating points are ready for heat supply, said Nataliya Khotsyanivska, representative of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine (Ministry of Rehabilitation).

Given the risks of war, communities should be prepared for possible emergency situations and have a plan of action in case of a complete shutdown of the power system, especially in regions near a combat zone, officials say.

In two years, Ukraine received 91 cogeneration plants from USAID

 

Specialists of the Ministry of Reconstruction reported on cooperation with international partners for the supply of block-modular boiler houses, as well as cogeneration plants (CHPs), which make it possible to simultaneously obtain electrical and thermal energy with an efficiency of up to 90%.

During 2023-2024, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) transferred 91 cogeneration plants with a total capacity of 56.5 MW to 32 cities of Ukraine and two universities to ensure the autonomous operation of critical infrastructure facilities.

For its part, the NCRECP has simplified permitting procedures for distributed generation facilities. In particular, the electricity production activities of such business entities are not subject to licensing. The procedure for connecting KGU to electric, gas and heat networks has also been simplified. At the same time, communities complain about the delay of these procedures by the operators.

According to the Ministry of Reconstruction, heat supply enterprises of 22 regions of Ukraine have already received cogeneration units.

At the same time, at the October meeting of the Headquarters, it was emphasized that a number of regions have not yet completed the installation of KSU, and specific tasks were defined for these communities in order to speed up the connection.

Not all communities are able to implement projects on their own

 

Experts discussed the reasons for the delay in the implementation of donor aid projects for communities during a discussion at the Energy Club.

Industry experts point out that these cases are not isolated, and are often associated with the lack of a systemic approach and lack of responsibility at the community level.

For example, one of the problematic cases of the USAID Energy Security Project (USAID ESP) was investigated by Olha Babii, adviser to the head of the NSDC of Ukraine.

One of the large communities in the Kirovohrad region ordered several cogeneration plants from the ESP project. To the previous question, whether they would be able to prepare for their installation on their own, the community answered that yes, they would be able to.

"This community has now received four installations, but did not prepare for the installation process. They waited, but did not take care of the accompanying costs, the financing of the accession. And now we, as a country, have a bad reputation in front of international partners, - the specialist notes. - There are a large number of regions with insufficient budgets that need distributed generation projects. I have a question for the associations, for these communities: why don't you turn to the reserve fund or the regional budget to compensate for these expenses."

Therefore, experts recommend evaluating all the features and capabilities of communities in advance, developing strategic documents, and looking for partners. The experience of Poltava in finding financing for the installation of three cogeneration plants with a total capacity of 4 MW, which was transferred to the city by USAID, is indicative.

The regional KP "Poltavateploenergo" took over the financing of the design and estimate documentation and the installation of only one of the three cogeneration units with a capacity of 1 MW. Subsequently, USAID agreed to pay for the installation and start-up of another cogeneration plant with a capacity of 1.5 MW.

The payment and introduction of the third installation with a capacity of 1.5 kW is still pending. If funding is not found, the ESP project will redistribute KSU to the needs of another community.

The redistribution of installations within the project is possible, because it really happens that the community is unable to implement the plan, says Oleg Harnyk, deputy executive director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities for housing and communal services issues.

"This is a problem, I admit. Not all cities were ready. Finances, project, technical potential and even initiative - different cases, different reasons play a role, - clarifies the specialist. - But in any case, the problem is that, as of today, an insufficient number of cogeneration plants have been imported into the territory of Ukraine."

If we take, for example, Kharkiv, then both the city and many nearby settlements suffered as a result of the destruction of the Zmiyiv TPP, so now there is not a full volume to meet the demand of communities of Kharkiv region for cogeneration plants.

The city of Dolyna in Prykarpattia systematically increases the level of energy efficiency

 

Experts note that the success of communities largely depends on the awareness and systemic work of local self-government. One of the best examples of conscious long-term work on the implementation of an effective energy policy is the Dolyna territorial community in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

In 2008, Dolyna became a member of the Association of Energy-Efficient Cities of Ukraine, and the following year, the city joined the Covenant of Mayors, an international movement for climate and energy conservation at the local level.

The energy transformation of the community must begin with strategic documents and the organization of the work of specialists, notes Ivan Dyriv, the mayor of Dolyna.

The city has adopted a strategy where one of the main goals is the development of energy based on the Action Plan for Sustainable Energy Development and Adaptation to Climate Change.

The structure of the city council has a specialized department, where two certified energy managers work, who conduct a huge amount of work in this field, starting with monitoring the consumption of all energy resources in communal buildings of the community. Thanks to the monitoring system, the city has data on the daily consumption of energy resources (electricity, gas, water) at each of the 101 community facilities.

It is worth noting that a feature of the city is that all residential buildings in Dolyna with a population of about 21,000 residents have individual heating. The last boilers stopped working in 2005, so residents do not depend on centralized heat supply.

As in the country as a whole, Dolyna also feels a lack of funding, but despite all that, the community implements energy projects, both with its own and donor funds, Ivan Dyriv shared.

Thus, at the end of 2023, a 120 kW solar power plant was installed at the Dolyna Waterworks using funds from the community budget. In summer, the plant produces 100-110 kW per hour, while the treatment plants consume 65-70 kW. The company was the first among Ukrainian water utilities to acquire the status of an active consumer and through a trader sells excess electricity at market prices to the general network.

Mayor Ivan Dyriv at the launch of the SES at the water treatment facilities of KP "Vodokanal" of the Dolyna City Council

However, community experts point out that instead of selling excess electricity to a single network, it would be more profitable for the city to power its communal buildings.

"Why sell electricity for 3 hryvnias on the market, when at the same time the hospital buys it for 7-8 hryvnias. I would like to transfer this energy to our consumers in a legal way, but so far this is prohibited by law. Therefore, I have a request to the state to give such an opportunity to communities that are able to do it", - suggests the mayor of Dolyna.

Currently, four more HPPs are being built in the Valley at critical infrastructure facilities. A 120 kW solar power station is being built at the water intake with funds from the local budget, which is planned to be put into operation by the end of the year. In addition, the project for the construction of a solar station with storage at the regulating facilities of the water supply passed the examination. This will allow consumers to receive water even in the event of a power outage.

Two more stations with energy storage units will be installed at a children's hospital and one of the city's kindergartens with the financial support of Ukrnafta PJSC.

At the same time, thanks to the systematic work of energy managers, the city has become a leader in sustainable energy development. Over ten years, specialists were able to attract about 10 million euros in funding for energy-efficient measures in the form of grants, loans and funding from the state budget.

During this time, not only the buildings of communal institutions, but also a third of multi-apartment housing were insulated in the Valley. In this way, community specialists are actively working to improve the level of energy security.

The Khmelnytskyi community is building microgrids

 

Despite the growing attention of relevant ministries and institutions to the topic of distributed generation, mass development in the regions in the near future should not be expected. This opinion was expressed by experts during a discussion about the cities of the future at the conference organized by the project "Renewable energy sources for a sustainable Ukraine" (R2U).

This thesis is supported by Vasyl Novachok, the deputy mayor of Khmelnytskyi, explaining it as an economic factor.

"There are no significant changes, primarily due to the fact that communities are not motivated to attract investors and invest in their own generation," the specialist notes. - Because if we install 50 or 100 MW of power in some community, and think that we will be provided with energy, it is a little bit wrong. We give everything to the Ukrenergo network, and the company transfers it wherever it deems necessary. At the same time, city consumers are disconnected from electricity, so they do not receive this resource."

Representatives of the city note that they appealed to the previous management of "Ukrenergo" with a request to resolve this issue fairly for the community, which has installed distributed generation at its own expense or jointly with an investor and expects a greater return on the distribution of energy resources, compared to a neighboring community that has nothing did But the question is still open.

However, the city has a long-standing experience of using its own generation. The first cogeneration plant was installed in Khmelnytskyi back in 2003. Тhe installation of the Ukrainian production company "Pervomayskdieselmash" served them for 20 years from mid-October to mid-April, and after a month or two of repairs it is again ready for the start of the next heating season. 

Khmelnytskyi has a fleet of 15 cogeneration plants located at the city's boiler houses for about 270,000 residents. Two of them, more modern KSU, were launched already after 2022.

Currently, "Teplocomunenergo" does not buy electricity at all. In 2023, the company produced 21 million kWh of electricity, of which 15 million were consumed, and the surplus of 6 million was sold.

A new cogeneration plant that supplies energy to both kindergartens and schools, as well as residential buildings. Photo: Khmelnytskyi City Council

"I believe that this is very correct and very convenient, because each installation provides the opportunity for each individual boiler room to work in microgrid mode," the specialist notes. - That is, all the generated energy first meets the needs of the boiler house, and the excess is already transferred to the unified energy system through the Khmelnytskoblenergo networks.

Now these KGUs are inferior in efficiency to modern foreign counterparts and are more difficult to maneuver, because they have to work in the mode of 80-90% power, while more modern brands allow maneuvering up to 30%. But the existing installations are significantly cheaper and easier to maintain and allow installation, repair and maintenance of the boiler room by local specialists.

The average capacity of the plants operating in Khmelnytskyi is about 500 kW, the thermal power is about 700 kW, and the efficiency factor is more than 80, taking into account the electrical and thermal parts.

"When they started turning off the lights for various reasons, whether after Russian shelling or after certain emergency failures in the network, we realized the importance of these 15 installations for us," emphasizes Vasyl Novachok.- Previously, they were enough to power our facilities, and excess electricity was fed into the network. Now we have started to build our own networks for the transmission of electricity for other small consumers, such as boiler houses from 30 to 150 kW."

Currently, the city is engaged in the arrangement of microgrids of its own transmission of its own generation. The USAID agency financed the purchase of transformers and cables, and the city was left with costs for laying. So the work is already at the final stage.

"The plans for the near future are to build a network that will fully connect the entire generation of the city. While this network will connect the generation, specialists will connect critical infrastructure facilities to it, such as boiler houses, hospitals, heating stations, sewage pumping and water pumping stations and other consumers, - the specialist continues.- We are not stopping, we continue to develop distributed generation, including with the help of various grant programs that provide us with additional cogeneration plants."

At the same time, specialists point out that decarbonization is now very timely: gas generation is not as effective as for technologies of the XXI century, because it is dependent on hydrocarbons. Therefore, the community understands that with the approach of joining the European Union, it is necessary to move away from fossil energy sources.

 

Larisa Bilozerova, specially for "Ukrainian Energy"