Ukraine can make more than half of its energy green by 2030 – expert

"I strongly believe that by 2030 we have the opportunity to obtain more than 50% of clean energy for the final consumer," Oleksandr Dombrovskyi, Chairman of the Board of Public Union Global 100% RenewablesUkraine, shared such an optimistic forecast in a comment to Ukrinform.

Dombrovskyi noted that the state set ambitious enough goals and was moving towards them despite the war, which not only did not stop the process but on the contrary, stimulated faster movement.

As noted, such a forecast is optimistic because the following prerequisites are necessary for this: Ukraine wins quickly, recovery begins, and the rules for economic development are "correct" – there will be no corruption, no monopolies, and economic decentralization is implemented in energy and investment issues. It is very important for the state to create rules of the game that will not be violated, will not change, and that will provide an opportunity to invest and develop this market quickly, Dombrovskyi emphasized.

The ex-MP, President of MHP Eco Energy (a company specializing in gas production) bases his optimism on the fact that he himself implements many experimental projects and laboratory research and knows that what many did not believe in until recently is being carried out today at the industrial level.

"We can produce our own energy resources. Ukraine has a 100 percent chance to be one of the most innovative, technologically developed countries in the world," Dombrovskyi is convinced. According to him, Ukraine has enormous potential: in addition to the sun and wind, as one of the most powerful agricultural countries, Ukraine also has a sufficient amount of waste and raw materials to produce its own biogas, biomethane, green hydrogen, etc.

Many Ukrainian companies do not wait for the end of the war, they work and invest now. However, green cooperation with foreign partners is needed. Ukrainian companies develop such cooperation primarily with Germany and also establish contacts with Dutch, Austrian, Danish, British, and American firms.

Dombrovskyi pointed to the importance of creating a "decentralized energy supply system." The urgency of the task was proved by the efforts of the Russian aggressor to destroy our energy infrastructure, a system that we inherited from the USSR as a rigidly structured system. During the war, due to such resources as, in particular, the sun and small storage systems, the system balanced and began to "live in a new way". Individual villages and towns could provide themselves with electricity even during blackouts.

The expert cited the figures: for the 30 years of independence, Ukraine paid only Russia, the aggressor country, more than $100 billion just for the natural gas import, which was equal to approximately one pre-war budget of Ukraine. For 30 years, approximately $15 billion was allocated from the economy of Ukraine to the import of energy resources every year. The major exporter, again, was Russia, from which we bought diesel, oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.

"Russian aggression confirms the fact that the oil and gas that the Russian Federation exported to Europe and Ukraine and earned from it return in the form of weapons, missiles, and destruction. The whole world eventually understood this, Europe changed its attitude 180 degrees," Dombrovskyi said. He noted that green, renewable energy today is not just about energy. This is about the protection of Ukraine, about energy security, energy independence of Ukraine, but also of the EU countries.

At the recent 9th Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue, together with the association members of the union, Dombrovskyi signed the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation with Bundesverband Erneuerbare Energie (BEE), German’s largest renewable energy association.