01.12.2025
On November 20, the Energy Club forum “Energy of Freedom: Resilience and New Opportunities for the Energy Storage Systems Market in Ukraine” took place in Kyiv. Amid large-scale challenges for the Ukrainian energy system, energy storage technologies are becoming the key to security, stability, and the construction of a modern decentralized grid. Consequently, the event united business, investors, regulators, and government representatives to develop practical solutions for the development of the BESS market and the formation of transparent rules that will strengthen Ukraine’s energy independence.
Panel Discussion: Strategy, Investments, and BESS Business Models
In the first panel discussion, “Strategy, Investments, and Business Models: How to Make the BESS Market in Ukraine Profitable?”, speaker Natalia Korobenko, Regulatory Affairs Manager at Elementum Energy (Ukraine), focused on the critical aspects of developing the energy storage market, combining BESS with RES, and the need for an effective regulatory environment.
Energy Reality and the Symbolism of the Forum’s Theme
Natalia Korobenko noted that the strict power outage schedules on the day of the forum only highlighted the relevance of the theme “Energy of Freedom,” as consumer freedom today directly depends on the stability of the energy system and the availability of flexible balancing tools.
Elementum Energy’s Production and Pilot Projects
Elementum Energy is one of the largest foreign investors in renewable generation: over 600 MW of installed capacity and 29 stations in its portfolio. Several more projects are under development. In addition, the company is implementing a pilot project to install BESS at an operating wind power plant. The goal is not to create a new business line, but to increase the stability and predictability of its own generation. After the pilot at the wind farm, the company plans to expand energy storage projects to solar stations as well.
The Problem Is Not in Generation, But in Energy Transmission
The speaker emphasized that the main challenge for RES today is the lack of grid capacity, not excess generation: “Stations do not produce electricity due to curtailment commands from the system operator, while consumers are without light at the same time. This is all because there is no way to transmit the energy.” Infrastructure shelling exacerbates the problem. BESS can partially mitigate it, but it will not replace full-scale restoration and grid expansion.
European Experience and Stimulus for Ukraine
Natalia Korobenko noted that Europe also faces RES curtailments. In some regions of Germany, Poland, and Spain, renewable generation has been turned off for days in a row throughout the year due to a lack of grid infrastructure. The solution lies in hybrid stations and storage systems that better align production with consumption peaks.
The Role of Business in Market Development
The expert emphasized: the most effective solutions are born in business, as it is the first to face challenges, handling everything firsthand, encountering bureaucracy and logistical difficulties. Business should propose these solutions to the state. Elementum Energy actively participates in working groups and regulatory initiatives, as it is practitioners who form realistic proposals.
Regulation: Fewer Obligations, More Common Sense
Natalia Korobenko drew attention to the excessive regulation of many issues in the energy sector. The state should not mandate the implementation of technologies or control every step of realization. It should create conditions under which business will want to implement this more and more, creating competition in the market. “Every project must have economic feasibility. You can’t just oblige everyone to install BESS,” the speaker noted. The panel moderator, Maksym Nemchynov, emphasized that regulation should be “mandatory but invisible” — creating rules without hindering business operations.
Real Problems and Practical Paths
Natalia Korobenko’s speech outlined real problems and practical paths for the development of the BESS market in Ukraine. Energy storage systems have the potential to increase the flexibility and resilience of the energy sector, but large-scale implementation requires:
Storage technologies can become the foundation for a qualitatively new energy system architecture, where RES will work as efficiently as possible, and consumers will receive greater stability. The Ukrainian market already has investors, experience, and the first pilot examples — so right now, the opportunity opens up to build a modern model that will correspond to European trends and ensure the country’s energy freedom in the long term.
