INTEGRITES presented Climate Change Task Force at the Ukrainian Energy Forum 2021

INTEGRITES became partner of the XII Ukrainian Energy Forum* where presented the Climate Change Task Force which provides comprehensive legal advice in projects on decarbonisation and energy efficiency of business.

Climate Change Task Force is a response to the challenges faced by the firm’s clients in their green transition. The team consists of 6 partners and 25 lawyers. The Task Force helps clients with their business ventures in becoming greener, building renewables generation, construction of the energy storage and maneuvering capacities, production of green hydrogen, green electricity trading, as well as in relevant policy framing and advocacy.

INTEGRITES Managing Partner Oleksiy Feliv acted as moderator of the session “Electricity Market Reform: Ensuring Profitability and Transparency”. The participants discussed the main market trends and the platform for concluding bilateral agreements for the purchase and sale of electricity, as well as solutions that would help to avoid debt crises in the future. The panellists emphasised the need for the presence of European companies in the Ukrainian market, the introduction of a single clearing system, the economically feasible tariffs, as well as reimbursement of PSO at the level of electricity costs. They also suggested solutions for the sufficient funding of the Guaranteed Buyer, including the issuance of domestic government bonds.

Oleksiy Feliv also spoke in two panel discussions on RES. The agenda of the panel “Further Development of Renewable Energy Sources” included the prospects for investors in Ukraine, as well as plans to protect investment in the sector. Oleksiy pointed out that Ukraine exports 40% of the manufactured goods to the EU, and the main driver of decarbonisation of business and the Ukrainian economy will be the carbon border adjustment mechanism envisaged by the European Green Deal. He also emphasised the importance of the certificates of origin, since they wouldn’t require significant investment but create preconditions for green energy trading. In Oleksiy’s view, the future is development of RES facilities based on the corporate PPAs.

The key issues in the session “Unlocking the potential of onshore and offshore wind farms” were innovations that would add to the development of the industry in Ukraine, state quotas for electricity from wind farms and Ukraine’s role in the European Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy. Oleksiy Feliv explained that the difficulties with project financing related to the green tariff compensation and pointed out that further wind power generation is possible without the latter. He used the examples of INTEGRITES’ clients, EuroCape/Total Eren and Emergy (former NBT) to explain that developers could attract bank financing if they had their projects well structured.

Oleksiy Feliv, Managing Partner at INTEGRITES: “RES can compete with other types of power generation, including coal. To do this, we have a favourable geographical location and sufficient resources. At the same time, the market has been quite turbulent. To solve the problems of the industry, it is necessary to work on predictable pricing, resolve issues of imbalance in the electricity market and gradually turn away from the dominance of tariff formation. This will help move towards market mechanisms based on European experience and create favourable conditions for the development of the sector”.

*The Ukrainian Energy Forum 2021 took place on July 14-16, 2021 and brought together representatives of the public sector of Ukraine, as well as the leading national and international companies in the energy industry. The organizers aimed to discuss the energy policy strategies of the new Ukrainian government, the role of the EU and the European Energy Community in the development of the Ukrainian energy market, identify opportunities for cooperation and business development, and discuss specific bottlenecks for projects in the field.

500 delegates from more than 45 countries and 200 companies attended the event which took place at the Parkovy CEC in Kyiv and was broadcast online. The organizer of the Ukrainian Energy Forum – Adam Smith Conferences.