The Ministry of Energy and Environment Protection has offered investors in renewable energy sources a new, more stringent scenario for resolving the current market situation.

An updated department, presented by Deputy Minister of Energy Kostiantyn Chizhik during the Ukrainian Energy Forum in Kyiv, provides for voluntary restructuring in the form of tariff reduction for solar plants commissioned after 2017 as follows: 15% for stations with a capacity of less than 10 MW, by 20% for plants with a capacity of 10 MW to 50 MW, and 25% for plants with a capacity of over 50 MW. Moreover, for each of the categories, an extension of the payment term by five years is proposed. In turn, wind farms are proposed the reduction of tariffs by 10% also with an extension of the payment term by five years.

In addition, the ministry provides an additional option for investors in the form of the possibility of voluntary reduction of the feed-in tariff by 12.5% for solar plants and 5% for wind farms without extending the payment term.

"The logic of this option is that such a reduction is much smaller than a decrease when extending the payment term. Or you pass restructuring, extending the payment term, but at the same time you lower the feed-in tariff by a larger percentage, or you may not extend payment term, but at the same time take a slightly lower tariff reduction," the expert said.

For those who agree to voluntary restructuring, it is proposed to introduce 100% responsibility for unbalances by 2022, for those who don't agree with it – from 2020, taking into account the short transitional period from the moment the law was passed until this norm entered into force, the deputy minister said.