21.08.2026
Ukraine’s energy sector is entering a new phase, in which energy storage systems are gradually ceasing to be a “future” technology and are becoming one of the key elements of the new energy architecture. BESSs are capable of not only providing backup power, but also balancing the system, increasing grid flexibility, supporting the integration of renewable generation, and creating new business opportunities.
The Energy Club forum “Energy of Freedom: Sustainability and New Opportunities for the Energy Storage Systems Market in Ukraine” will be devoted to practical issues of this market development, which will be held on September 17 in Kyiv. The discussion will focus on the economics and real mechanisms for scaling BESS projects: which business models are already working, how to assess their payback, what role price arbitrage, the balancing market, and ancillary services play, as well as what regulatory and technical barriers still need to be overcome.
A separate and fundamentally important block of the forum will be devoted to financing. After all, to move from individual pilot solutions to large-scale development of the industry, technology and favorable market conditions are not enough – you need capital, a clear financial model and the trust of banks and investors. Participants will discuss how to make a BESS project bankable, what financial instruments are available to businesses, how banks assess risks, payback and project structure, and what the optimal model for attracting debt and equity capital should be.
Energy storage systems are gradually moving from the status of a promising technology to a full-fledged tool for business. Pavlo Prytyka, Director of the Medium Business Department of FUIB, spoke about how the demand for ESS solutions is changing, what projects banks are ready to finance today, and what role storage systems will play in the new energy system of Ukraine. He will be one of the main speakers at the Energy Club forum.
– Mr. Pavlo, today energy storage systems are no longer a technology of the future and are becoming a business tool. Do you see that Ukrainian business is already ready to invest in ESS, or is most companies still just looking at this direction?
– Interest in energy storage systems is really high today. We see that more and more companies are turning to the bank, consulting with market participants, studying business models and monetization opportunities for such projects.
At the same time, I would not say that the market has already entered the phase of mass implementation. Many companies are still carefully calculating the economics of projects and assessing risks. This is quite natural, because the ESS segment in Ukraine is relatively new and does not yet have such a long history of implemented projects as traditional solar or wind generation.
An important impetus for the development of the market was the auctions and contracts that Ukrenergo offered at the time. Thanks to the predicted conditions, companies were able to qualitatively model revenues and implement the first large projects. When the market saw successful cases, interest from investors increased significantly.
Therefore, today ESS is definitely not a technology of the future. A number of successful projects have been implemented in Ukraine, and the market continues to develop. But it is still in the stage of active formation, when companies seek to gain more practical experience before large-scale investments.
It is worth noting separately that energy storage systems solve one of the fundamental problems of modern energy – balancing the network. As the share of solar and wind generation grows, the need for such solutions will only increase.
– FUIB actively finances energy independence projects. What kind of requests do you receive from businesses most often today: solar generation, energy storage systems, cogeneration or complex solutions? How has this structure changed over the past year?
– Today, the greatest interest of businesses is focused on complex solutions that combine energy generation and storage. If a few years ago, most of the requests concerned mainly solar power plants, now companies are increasingly considering their own energy system as a single complex.
In fact, two main types of investors can be distinguished.
The first is companies that seek to increase their own energy independence and ensure business continuity. This segment, in our opinion, has the greatest potential for further growth.
This became especially relevant after 2022, when many enterprises in practice felt that stable energy supply is a critical condition for business functioning. First of all, this applies to manufacturing enterprises, logistics complexes and other energy-intensive industries.
The evolution looked quite logical. At first, companies invested in solar power plants to reduce electricity costs. Then there was an increased demand forand backup solutions – generators and cogeneration units. Today, more and more companies are considering energy storage systems as the next stage in the development of their own energy infrastructure.
Over the past year, we have observed a significant increase in interest in battery energy storage systems. There is also a high demand for cogeneration units, especially among critical infrastructure enterprises. In general, business is moving from situational solutions to building a comprehensive model of energy independence.
The second type is investors who consider energy storage systems as a separate business. In such projects, ESS does not serve the enterprise’s own consumption, but generates income through participation in the electricity market: providing auxiliary services, balancing the system and price arbitrage, when electricity is accumulated during periods of low prices and sold during peak demand hours.
It is these projects that are currently at the stage of active market formation. They can potentially provide higher profitability, but require much more accurate forecasting of market prices, professional management and more complex financial modeling. Therefore, banks traditionally pay more attention to such projects in terms of risk assessment and quality of the business plan.
– What factors most often determine a bank’s decision to finance a project with energy storage systems today?
– For the bank, the key factor remains the economic viability of the project. The business must clearly show what economic effect the energy storage system will provide, how it will affect costs, production continuity or potential income.
The second important criterion is the quality of the financial model. We analyze the forecast cash flows, payback scenarios and the project’s resilience to changes in the market situation.
No less important are the technical parameters of the project: the technologies used, the reliability of the equipment, the experience of suppliers and contractors, the availability of service support.
Therefore, businesses should pay special attention to high-quality financial and technical justification at the project preparation stage. It is a comprehensive approach that significantly increases the chances of obtaining financing.
Considering that the market for energy storage systems is only just emerging and we do not yet have five- or ten-year statistics on the operation of such projects, the bank expects significant investor participation with its own capital. Usually, we implement projects where the share of bank financing is about 50-60%, and the investor invests the rest independently. This indicates the client’s faith in their own project and creates a more balanced distribution of risks between all participants.
– Energy storage systems open up new opportunities for earning money – participation in the balancing market, price arbitrage, increasing energy independence. Does FUIB see these business models as mature enough for active lending, or is the market still in the formation stage?
– I would not call this market completely mature. There are already successfully implemented projects that operate both in the ancillary services market and on price arbitrage models, but we do not yet have long-term statistics that would allow all market participants to predict their effectiveness with high accuracy.
Today, most projects are actually undergoing a stage of practical testing of business models. Even those facilities that were put into operation on the eve of last winter have only one season of operation. It is important for banks to see how such projects work in different market conditions, how their load changes, how stable price arbitrage remains and how the market behaves with the increase in new capacities.
At the same time, we already see the fundamental prerequisites for the development of this segment. Even in mature European energy markets, the difference between electricity prices at different times of the day persists. It is this difference that forms the basis of the business model of energy storage systems. Therefore, the question today is not whether the ESS market will exist, but what its profitability will be after the completion of the active formation stage.
– Among the forum participants there will be many representatives of industry, the agricultural sector, logistics and communities. Which of these sectors already have the greatest potential for the implementation of energy storage systems and why?
– We see the greatest potential among consumers for whom the continuity of electricity supply directly affects the economic result. First of all, these are manufacturing enterprises, agribusiness, logistics complexes, elevators, cold storages and processing enterprises.
After 2022, Ukrainian business has learned an important lesson: energy availability is not just a matter of operating costs, but a fundamental element of the business model. For many enterprises, even a short-term loss of electricity supply can mean a stoppage of production or significant financial losses.
That is why we are observing a transition from individual solutions to complex energy systems. If theIf companies used to install only solar power plants or backup generators, now more than 90% of new projects involve a combination of generation and energy storage systems. The business is moving from backup to true energy independence.
– FUIB finances energy projects even in conditions of military risks. How has the perception of risks changed over the past two years, and are banks ready to participate in large-scale financing of Ukraine’s new energy infrastructure today?
– Military risks remain one of the key factors when assessing any energy project. Moreover, recently we have seen that threats to energy infrastructure are not decreasing, so banks and investors are forced to take them into account when structuring financing.
This is especially true for large energy facilities that can be potential targets for attacks. That is why, together with our clients, we analyze possible mechanisms for minimizing risks, including insurance, features of capacity placement and diversification of projects. Unfortunately, the war risk insurance market does not yet fully cover the needs of investors, and this remains one of the factors that hinders the development of the industry.
Despite this, banks are ready to finance energy projects. We see significant demand for investments in the energy sector, and the industry itself is today one of the key ones for the recovery and development of the country’s economy. That is why the banking sector continues to actively support both large infrastructure projects and solutions for small and medium-sized businesses.
– What do you think the Ukrainian market for energy storage systems should become? What role do you assign to banks in this development?
– We are convinced that energy storage systems will become one of the basic elements of the new Ukrainian energy system. Ukraine is already in fact undergoing a transformation from a centralized energy supply model to a more decentralized one, in which solar generation, wind power, cogeneration plants and local energy sources will play an increasingly important role.
Energy storage systems are of particular importance in this model. They do not produce electricity themselves, but they allow for much more efficient use of existing generating capacity, balance supply and demand and increase the stability of the energy system.
The role of banks is not only in financing. We help clients structure investment projects, assess risks, build financial models and find optimal sources of financing. In fact, the bank becomes a partner that helps businesses go from idea to project implementation.
We see that the number of such projects is constantly growing. First, companies test the technology on small facilities, make sure of its effectiveness, and then move on to large-scale investments. That is why we expect that in the coming years, energy storage systems will become a familiar element of the energy infrastructure of Ukrainian business, just as solar power plants are gradually becoming one today.
The Ukrainian market for energy storage systems is gradually moving from the stage of experiments and the first pilot projects to the formation of a full-fledged investment industry. And the question today is not only whether Ukraine needs storage systems, but how quickly business, the financial sector and the state will be able to create conditions for their scaling.
Along with technologies, this requires clear market rules, predictable sources of income, high-quality projects and affordable financing. It is the combination of these components that will determine whether BESS will become a mass element of the energy infrastructure of Ukrainian business.
It is indicative that banks are already considering storage systems as a separate class of investment projects with their own economics, risks and monetization models. Therefore, the next stage of market development is the transition from proving technological feasibility to proving its financial efficiency.
This is exactly what the participants of the Energy Club forum “Energy of Freedom: Sustainability and New Opportunities of the Energy Storage Systems Market in Ukraine” will talk about – how to make such projects economically viable, attract capital and turn energy storage into one of the key tools of the new decentralized energy system of Ukraine.
After all, the future energy sustainability of Ukraine is a question of the ability to accumulate, balance, flexibly use energy and invest in solutions that will work for the country’s economy for years.
