29.04.2026
On April 28, the professional forum “Distributed Cogeneration — 2026,” organized by the Energy Club community, took place. The event served as a platform for a critical dialogue between energy producers, the Regulator, Government representatives, and investors regarding the salvation of the industry amidst a regulatory crisis.
The Ukrainian energy system is undergoing a stage of large-scale decentralization, where 1.5 GW of distributed generation is expected to become the foundation of resilience. However, forum participants stated that as of April 2026, the implementation of this plan is under threat due to the misalignment between fuel costs and market electricity prices.
Economic Deadlock: The cancellation of subsidized gas for cogeneration, combined with rigid price caps, makes the operation of gas-fired units unprofitable.
Risk of Capacity Degradation: Experts warned that the forced shutdown of cogeneration units for the summer could lead to the impossibility of their rapid restart during the heating season without costly repairs.
Investment Climate: Due to market unpredictability, investors are forced to freeze projects, which undermines the energy security of communities.
EU Integration: Low price caps block electricity imports, limiting the capabilities of Ukrainian industry and the population.
The forum moderators — Energy Club Vice Presidents Artem Martyniuk and Maksym Nemchynov — emphasized the need for immediate synchronization of government actions to ensure at least basic profitability for producers.
The discussion featured Vitalii Zaichenko, Chairman of the Board of NPC Ukrenergo; Pavlo Karas, Director of CE “Cherkasyteplokomunenergo”; Roman Shved, Executive Director of UKRTEPLO; Oleksandr Dushenko, Director of CE “Teplovyk” (Starokostiantyniv); and Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, former head of Ukrenergo (2020–2024).
Based on the forum results, Energy Club is preparing an appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers and the NEURC with proposals for legislative steps to transform district heating enterprises into efficient and independent players in the energy market.
