21.02.2025
“Energy is a living organism, the circulatory system for the country’s economy, and it needs to be managed systematically. Now, after constant attacks and destruction, infrastructure facilities need repairs and restoration, and this is a path to chronic degradation of the energy system. But we strive for its modernization and operation in accordance with European standards,” says Ivan Grygoruk – Vice President of Energy Club.
According to the expert, this primarily requires updating regulatory and legal acts in the technical policy of the energy sector. This applies to all enterprises regardless of their type of activity – extraction, processing, as well as generation and networks. “All regulatory and legal acts were developed and supplemented in their latest edition a very long time ago. They were mainly based on equipment manufactured in Soviet and post-Soviet times according to the standards of that time,” explains Ivan Grygoruk. “So we inherited equipment from the 60s-first half of the 80s – the time of active development of the Soviet energy sector. When Ukraine set course for European integration, it turned out that our technical base was so outdated that we couldn’t harmonize European standards in a short time, because EU enterprises were working with equipment that was 50+ years ahead of ours – it’s not just about moving to the next stage of modernization, we’re talking about implementing a different generation of equipment and technical solutions. Everything worked in semi-manual mode here, while there it was fully automated. Thus, modernizing Ukraine’s UES would be extremely expensive. Now, during the war, all the worn-out and depreciated infrastructure and old equipment is being destroyed and essentially cannot be restored due to systematic attacks. In the first year of the active phase of the war with Russia, we collected old equipment from all over the world in Warsaw Pact countries, brought it from Africa, etc. But it has already been used, and now the next step is global modernization of the energy sector, and it’s impossible to design or modernize anything without basic regulatory and legal documents. We need to continue harmonizing legislation because after the transition period, there will come a time when we will be obligated to comply with all EU requirements and rules. Otherwise, no investor, creditor, or donor will be able to work effectively in Ukraine.
The main laws on electricity and gas markets, all regulatory documentation, TSO and DSO codes, operational security standards, electrical installation and technical operation rules, technical safety rules, etc., need harmonization. These processes have already begun, and Energy Club members and our partners, including ourselves, are participating in these processes. The operational security standard has already been harmonized and signed by the relevant Ministry. This is the result of teamwork, which involved all leading specialists in Ukraine – people who constantly operate equipment and networks and therefore know all the problematic points and bottlenecks. This wasn’t written by theorists; it’s a working document. In the same way, together we will try to harmonize the rules for electrical installation and technical operation with European standards this year. Next in line are industry standards for Smart grid, micro grid, which allow reliable operation of electrical installations in three modes – normal, emergency repair, and isolated for dedicated load.”
Currently, Energy Club is actively involved in training energy sector specialists. With support from international organizations and in cooperation with Ukrainian universities and industry experts, two training programs are already operating. Additionally, training on distributed generation implementation for territorial communities has been organized. “Together with partners and club members, we are working on a program to implement distributed generation systematically, with support from the state and banks,” added the Vice President of Energy Club. “I hope that within several months, a separate credit program for communities will be developed.”
Like the entire country, energy sector enterprises are working under enormous challenges, unprecedented since World War II. Every energy market company, distribution and transmission networks suffer firstly from destruction inflicted by the enemy during multiple systematic attacks, and secondly – during restoration and emergency repairs, people get injured or even die, causing a significant personnel shortage in the energy sector, emphasized Ivan Grygoruk: “Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, specialists, who were already few, stood up to defend the state, and until combat operations end, it’s impossible to return them because there’s no rotation. A significant portion of our colleagues are fighting at the front, and we all help them. Twice a year, Energy Club organizes charity tournaments in which all energy companies participate. Each subsequent event becomes more powerful than previous ones in terms of participant numbers and collected donations. Accordingly, our help to the front and defense forces increases. Also, each of us volunteers personally.”
Current work is also quite challenging – restoring destroyed infrastructure, many Energy Club members, including ourselves, work in companies that deal with this daily, and also participate in legislative activities and technical policy formation, closely communicating and helping each other within our authority and capabilities. And this is also an achievement in our difficult times. “We will continue to do everything so that our energy system lives and develops,” assured the Vice President of Energy Club.
