Ukraine's president signs law on development of high-efficiency cogeneration

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a law that creates conditions for the development of high-efficiency cogeneration in Ukraine in accordance with the provisions of the European Union.

That's according to the Ukrainian government website, Ukrinform reports.

"On March 17, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the Law of Ukraine on the development of high-efficiency cogeneration, which was developed by the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine and adopted by the Parliament at second reading and as a whole on February 24, 2023," the report reads.

According to the report, thanks to this law, conditions will be created in Ukraine for the introduction of highly efficient production of heat and electricity, while implementing the requirements of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU.

Cogeneration is considered highly efficient if the efficiency of energy generation by a cogeneration unit compared to the reference values of the efficiency of separate heat and electric energy production results in primary energy savings at the level of more than 10% (for units with a capacity of more than 1 MW inclusive) and more than 0% (for small cogeneration units with a capacity of 50 kW to 1 MW and micro-cogeneration units with a capacity of up to 50 kW).

Thus, the development of high-efficiency cogeneration makes it possible to increase the efficiency of fuel use. This, in turn, will contribute to significant savings in fuel and energy resources across the country. An exceptional advantage of high-efficiency cogeneration is the possibility of decentralization of electric energy generation, which is critically necessary amid Russian terrorist attacks.

"All this shows that thanks to highly efficient cogeneration units, Ukrainian cities will receive unique opportunities - reliable, constant access of consumers to thermal and electric energy, energy security, energy efficiency, saved energy resources and even decarbonization," the report said.

In order to stimulate the transition to high-efficiency cogeneration, the law envisages replacing the mechanism for the qualification of cogeneration units with the qualification of high-efficiency cogeneration according to the requirements of the above-mentioned EU Directive and introducing guarantees of the origin of electricity produced by highly efficient cogeneration units.

On February 24, the Verkhovna Rada adopted at second reading the draft law No. 4527, which creates conditions for the development of high-efficiency cogeneration in Ukraine in accordance with the provisions of the European Union.