Expert: Investors' capacity to install solar power plants exceeds demand
This was stated by Oleksii Korchmit, Chairman of the Ukrainian Association of Energy Service Companies, in an interview with Ukrinform.
"I will say one very important point: as of today, investors' capabilities exceed the demand from communities. Investors write to us: give us more facilities, but we have nothing to offer," he said, commenting on the implementation of the UNDP Project "Removing Barriers to Promoting Energy Efficiency Investments in Public Buildings in Small and Medium-Sized Cities of Ukraine through the ESCO Mechanism".
According to the expert, the lack of conscious energy-efficient behaviour is the main barrier to scaling up.
"As of today, we have 507 projects under development for the insulation of kindergartens and schools, as well as solar power plants for hospitals and water utilities. And the number of concluded contracts is 35. What does this mean? It shows that the majority of people are cut off at the level of "I don't want to", "I can't" and a bunch of other reasons why it is not necessary. And this is not the position of the investor, but mainly of the applicant, represented by budget managers and recipients of budget funds!" Korchmit said.
According to the expert, the situation may change after the President instructs the government to develop conditions to simplify the installation of solar panels and batteries for citizens. In particular, it is expected that solar panels and energy storage units should appear in every school and hospital as soon as possible.
"It is quite possible. But in schools, these are unprofitable projects, because solar power plants will generate energy even when no one is there, so there is no economic logic for investors to go there. But in hospitals, where consumption is round-the-clock and year-round, they will go," Korchmit said.
At the same time, he emphasised: "The state must give a signal to the population, to all managers of state and municipal property: the game of energy efficiency and green transformation is over, it is no longer a right, it is a duty, even a debt to the nation - everyone must make a contribution!" the expert is convinced.
As reported, Ukraine lost more than 9 GW of generation capacity due to Russian shelling.
