Withdrawal of coal from Ukraine's energy mix should be accompanied by development of energy storage systems – Vitrenko
Acting Energy Minister Yuriy Vitrenko is in favor of the earliest possible abandonment of the energy generation from coal, but considers this possible on condition of the development of energy storage systems.
"I am serious about the withdrawal of coal, we need to do it as quickly as possible. This will help the Ukrainian energy sector become more resilient, as well as contribute to the global fight against climate change [...] But we do not have energy storage systems that would allow to quit coal and rely on renewable energy sources," he said during an online event Discussion with Ambassadors: Decarbonization, COP26, Green Economy hosted by Dixi Group.
At the same time, Vitrenko noted that Ukraine has missed the time for eco-modernization of thermal generation, and our stations are in a much worse condition than European ones.
In this regard, according to him, Ukraine needs to reorient itself to the use of new technologies that would be more justified and expedient from an economic point of view than the modernization of thermal power plants.
"We need to withdraw coal, since its use is a source of large carbon dioxide emissions, but also to apply new technologies that are more economically justified," the Energy Minister said, stressing that "this requires new political vectors from the government and large investments."
At the same time, according to him, the negative consequence of the absence of energy storage systems was that in order to avoid restrictions on energy supply in the last autumn-winter period, Ukraine had to import electricity from the Russian Federation and Belarus.
"We avoided blackouts this winter, thanks to imports from Russia and Belarus, but we must avoid using such measures. But since we do not have decisions on energy storage systems, it was a real way to ensure full power supply in those conditions," Vitrenko said.
Taking this into account, the Energy Minister said that the ministry headed by him will focus on the development of energy storage systems, "green" hydrogen and bioenergy, as well as increasing energy efficiency.
