21.09.2026
Ukraine’s energy storage market is entering an active stage of development and is already creating commercial opportunities for investors. However, the long-term viability of projects will depend on predictable regulation, payment discipline in the balancing market, access to war-risk insurance, and investors’ ability to prepare for several different market scenarios.
Andriy Kobolyev, founder of Eney, highlighted these issues during the Energy Club forum “Energy of Freedom: Resilience and New Opportunities for Ukraine’s Energy Storage Market,” held in Kyiv on 17 September.
Speaking during the panel discussion “Strategies, Investment and Business Models: How to Make Ukraine’s BESS Market Profitable,” he shared the company’s practical experience in developing energy storage systems and outlined the principal risks affecting the market’s future.
According to Andriy Kobolyev, his company was among the first participants in the relevant auctions. Eney commissioned its first energy storage system in 2025 and expects to launch two more systems by the end of 2026.
“The market is currently very interesting and developing rapidly. I would say it is hot. This is a very good time to enter, and the market continues to gain momentum,” Andriy Kobolyev said.
In his view, the main question is no longer how to make the energy storage market attractive, since it is already demonstrating commercial viability. The more important task is to preserve the conditions that have enabled the market to begin developing. “The market is already attractive and profitable. The priority now is not to break anything, as has often happened in the Ukrainian reality,” he stressed.
Kobolyev addressed this message primarily to the relevant ministries, the regulator, NPC Ukrenergo, and other public institutions whose decisions directly influence the conditions under which energy storage projects are developed and operated.
Three Key Conditions for Market Development
The first condition identified by Kobolyev was the predictability of public policy and regulation. Investors need to understand the rules not only when launching a project but throughout the entire investment repayment period.
The second critical issue is the situation in the balancing market, particularly payment delays for energy supplied and services already provided. According to Kobolyev, restoring payment discipline could reduce price spreads and slightly lower the profitability of certain operations. At the same time, it would enable companies to receive the money they have actually earned. “On the one hand, this may reduce market spreads and slightly lower profitability. On the other hand, it will allow companies to monetise the revenues they have actually earned,” Andriy Kobolyev explained.
The third essential condition is the development of an accessible war-risk insurance mechanism. According to the Eney founder, his company was able to address this issue through cooperation with an American partner. The company had previously purchased commercial insurance, but its cost was extremely high and could continue to rise. “Without insurance, the risks for investors remain relatively high. Our company has found a solution: we have an American partner through whom we obtain war-risk insurance, which enables us to proceed with our projects,” he said.
Kobolyev also welcomed an initiative he attributed to Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy concerning a first-loss coverage mechanism of up to €10 million. He emphasised that an effective insurance system cannot rely exclusively on funding from international partners; Ukraine must also participate in establishing the mechanism. “If we are interested in energy projects of any kind – not only energy storage – war-risk insurance is a must,” he stressed.
During the subsequent discussion, Andriy Kobolyev urged market participants to be cautious when forecasting future price spreads, the pace of market saturation, and project payback periods.
He noted that Ukraine’s energy market depends on numerous factors, some of which cannot be forecast reliably. These include the duration and course of the war, the condition of industrial demand, the continued development of renewable generation, and future regulatory decisions. “I have always been involved in strategic planning, both at Naftogaz and in business, and I believe that the word ‘obvious’ is inappropriate here. Nothing is obvious in our market. Participants sometimes take such irrational steps that it becomes extremely difficult to predict what the market or the price spread will look like,” Kobolyev said.
He emphasised that the size of the spread will be directly affected by developments in the country. “The spread depends on the war. Who in this room can model the war? Nobody. Statements about exactly what the spread will be are therefore wishful thinking. We simply do not know,” he said.
In Kobolyev’s view, the energy storage business is inherently based on volatility – whether in electricity prices, frequency, or other market parameters. However, such volatility must be generated by a functioning open market rather than created artificially to support the profitability of individual projects.
“Batteries are a business that operates on volatility. Volatility is a derivative of an open and free market. You cannot create it artificially: it either exists or it does not,” Andriy Kobolyev stressed.
Kobolyev identified resilience to different market scenarios as one of the central principles of planning investments in energy storage systems. A project built around a single price forecast or one source of revenue may demonstrate very high projected returns. However, such a model remains vulnerable to changes in regulation, the generation mix, consumption patterns, or market prices. “In Ukraine, a stable energy project is one that can withstand many different scenarios,” he said.
According to Kobolyev, a multi-scenario model may show a lower projected return, but its assumptions and results are likely to be more realistic. “As a rule, the return on such a project will be lower than in a model where you select one ideal scenario and assume that you will hit it perfectly. But that return will be much more realistic,” he explained.
Kobolyev identified behind-the-meter energy storage as a particularly promising area. Under this model, the storage system is integrated directly into the energy infrastructure of an industrial enterprise or another consumer.
At the same time, he cautioned that behind-the-meter storage is not a single universal business model. It encompasses many different configurations depending on the consumer’s load profile, tariffs, the technical characteristics of a particular site, smart-grid capabilities, and the potential future coupling of the Ukrainian and European electricity markets.
He also linked the prospects for such projects to possible changes in the tariff regulation system. In his view, a revision of state electricity subsidy mechanisms could create significant demand for energy services and projects designed to manage and optimise consumption.
Kobolyev nevertheless warned investors against seeking one configuration that could be considered universally correct. “I cannot give one universal recommendation on which configuration to choose: solar or wind, a smart grid or another solution, or how many hours of duration a battery should have. There are many possible options,” he said.
In his view, an energy storage system can serve as the foundation of a more complex energy project, to which generation, demand management, smart-grid solutions, and other components can subsequently be added. “Batteries and energy storage systems can form the foundation of projects to which many other components may later be added. This is a solid base from which to start,” Kobolyev noted.
Andriy Kobolyev said that his team is currently working on four projects. The company has experience working with Fluence, access to war-risk insurance, and opportunities to structure debt financing.
However, the team deliberately retains several potential development options for each project. “For every project, we keep five different scenarios open. If someone tells me that a project can operate under only one specific scenario, I do not believe that they know the future. I do not know it either. That is why I need flexibility and optionality,” Andriy Kobolyev concluded.
His key message to investors was that the main benchmark should not be the highest possible return calculated under one favourable scenario. A stronger basis for investment is the project’s ability to remain viable under different market, regulatory, and security conditions.
