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Investors in renewable energy in Ukraine no longer focus on classic financial models and project payback periods due to chronic government debt. This was stated by Olga Rybachuk, CEO of Elementum Energy, the largest wind energy company in Ukraine, in an interview with Delo.ua.
“We have not been calculating payback periods for a long time because of debts and late payments. As of today, we have a 50% payment for the electricity we generated in 2022,” she stressed.
This means that even basic economic expectations for investors are not being met, and the market is becoming unstable and risky. Delays in feed-in tariff payments, which have been going on for several years now, significantly undermine confidence in the government’s renewable energy policy.
Despite this, Ukraine’s renewable energy sector is not stopping. Rybachuk noted that other market players continue to announce new projects, but now the strategy has changed: the focus is not on government support, but on the open market.
“Most new projects are built with the expectation of selling electricity on the open market. You can sell not only to the state, but also to end consumers – under bilateral agreements on the UEEX, DAM and IDM. You can even export it,” she explained.
As a result, energy companies are moving towards more flexible and commercially independent models that are oriented towards a competitive environment.
Overall, the situation illustrates a serious systemic challenge for Ukraine’s energy security and green transformation: without a transparent financial policy on the part of the state, investors are forced to look for alternative ways to survive.
