“For Ukraine, the Energy Community is the guarantor of European integration and offers a format in which we can address important issues on an equal footing with the European Union and the Contracting Parties, " - said Deputy Energy Minister for European Integration Yaroslav Demchenkov.

As the Deputy Energy Minister has stipulated, during its presidency, Ukraine will make efforts to strengthen the role of energy solidarity, which is extremely important in the context of the energy crisis that many countries are currently experiencing.

On December 17, 2021, the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC) made the final decision on the certification of NPC Ukrenergo as a transmission system operator (TSO) according to the ISO model.

Certification of the transmission system operator is the next step in the implementation of European Union rules on the functioning of liberalized electricity markets following Ukraine's international obligations. It is one of the main prerequisites for the integration of the Ukrainian energy system into the network of energy systems of the European Union (ENTSO-E).

The NEURC’s final certification decision has been adopted considering the Energy Community Secretariat’s requests and recommendations from its Opinion 4/21. The Secretariat had raised concerns about Ukrenergo’s financial standing, and about interventions by state authorities in the corporate governance of the transmission system operator (TSO). In the meantime, the TSO’s supervisory board with a majority of independent members has been appointed. According to the final decision, the Ministry of Energy as shareholder of Ukrenergo, will also have to continue its internal restructuring meant to ring-fence the TSO from political decisions, and to propose solutions addressing the risks to the company’s liquidity.

The adoption of this document is another step in the implementation of European standards in the field of energy efficiency. The National Plan envisages a comprehensive approach to energy modernization in almost all sectors of the economy. According to the National Plan, the reduction of primary energy consumption by 22.3% and final consumption by 17.1% is envisaged by 2030.

To achieve the goals, the National Plan identifies several horizontal measures: the functioning of the Energy Efficiency Fund, incentives for industrial enterprises to energy efficiency, energy efficiency tax instruments, removal of administrative barriers in building management, energy labeling, and ecodesign, and full commercial accounting for heat and water and energy consumption.  The National Plan also includes sectoral measures:

• Buildings:
  • implementation of the EU Directive on the energy performance of buildings including implementation of the energy performance certificate
  • energy efficiency of the individual households
• Budget sector:
  • implementation of the energy-management and energy-monitoring
  • thermo-rehabilitation of public and municipal buildings (schools, kinder-gardens, hospitals etc)
  • inclusion of the energy efficiency criteria in the public procurements;
  • efficient outdoor illumination of the inhabited areas
• Industry:
  • energy-service
  • energy audit and energy management
• Transport:
  • optimization of cargo and passenger operations in cities
  • modernization of the urban transport with transition to electric transport
  • upgrade of the private auto-park (development of the electromobility)
• Energy:
  • increase of the heating systems’ efficiency
  • development of the high-yield combusted heat and electrical power generation (combusted generation)
  • decrease of the loses in electricity transmission and distribution networks, gas distribution networks
  • efficient building heating/cooling

This is the conclusion reached by experts who worked on the study “Energy Transparency Index of Ukraine 2021” from DiXi Group Think Tank. prepared within the USAID Project "Energy Sector Transparency".

The total score of Ukraine according to the assessment conducted in 2021 is 63 out of 100 possible. This indicates the average transparency of the energy sector. At the same time, compared to last year's estimate, transparency in most categories has increased, and the Index itself has increased by 5 points. According to the study, the Ministry of Energy showed positive dynamics and moved to the zone of medium transparency. The State Agency for Energy Efficiency has also shown progress and moved to a zone of good transparency.

For more details regarding the Study, please review the Dixi Group release.

The Chief executive of the Metinvest (an international vertically integrated mining and metals group of companies including mining and steel companies located in Ukraine, Europe and the United States, with a sales network covering all key global markets) has reported, that the largest Ukrainian steelmaker needs to invest $20-30 billion in coming years to replace four coal-fired blast furnaces with new equipment to cut carbon emissions. Metinvest is aimed to cut emissions from the industry by 91% by 2050.

The global steel industry is one of the three biggest emitters of carbon dioxide and companies are increasingly under pressure to reduce pollution. The investments in the modernization of the new equipment will have a positive impact on the steel-production in the long-scale perspective. For instance, it would help the producers to save funds when exporting steel to the EU, if the carbon-border adjustment mechanism would be implemented in the European Union.

The European Union has included gas and nuclear energy as sustainable investments in green energy in its proposed taxonomy list. The Taxonomy Complementary Climate Delegated Act was presented on February 2^nd.

As Europe seeks to achieve carbon ambitions by 2050, the inclusion of gas and nuclear energy was subject to a discussion. The EU leaders` opinions were divided with this matter. Some claim that although gas cannot be considered a “perfectly green” source of energy, it is still better for the environment than coal. In contrast, others stipulate that gas is as harmful as coal, therefore the investments shall be directed on the other sources of energy.

The E.U.’s 27 Member States will have four months to discuss the proposed Act. As a result, the European Parliament could ultimately veto the proposal, although the experts claim that it is quite doubtful.

The European Commission has approved the German initiative H2Global in the amount of 900 million euros to support investments in the production of "green" hydrogen in third countries, which will then be exported to the European Union.

H2Global will promote the implementation of the Green Deal strategy without violating competition rules in the EU market. Projects for the production of "green" hydrogen and its derivatives (ammonia, methanol, etc.) will be selected on the basis of a tender and in strict accordance with the sustainability criteria. The initiative is designed for 10 years, and its implementation will begin from the signing of the first contract.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2022, the 46.1 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric generating capacity are expected to be added to the U.S. power grid. Almost half of the planned 2022 capacity additions are solar, followed by natural gas at 21% and wind at 17%.