Vitalii Nikolaienko: "Joining Forces Helps Change the Rules"

Recently, VOLTAGE Group officially became a member of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association (UWEA), confirming the company’s commitment to developing renewable energy and integrating advanced technologies in the wind energy sector. The Chairman of UWEA, Andriy Konechenkov, presented VOLTAGE Group CEO Vitalii Nikolaienko with the corresponding membership certificate. This event confirmed VOLTAGE Group’s expertise and was another step toward implementing innovative solutions in the field of wind energy.

VOLTAGE Group is a member of Energy Club, and in May, Vitalii Nikolaienko, CEO of VOLTAGE, will teach a course on “Distributed Generation: A Step Towards Ukraine’s Energy Independence.” Our conversation with Vitalii today is about the benefits of Energy Club membership, the relevance and effectiveness of events organized by the community, future prospects, and the dedication of energy professionals to their work.

Vitalii Nikolaienko

“I was offered membership in Energy Club in 2018. At a meeting with the club’s president, Andriy Kostrytsya, we had a very constructive discussion about the format, conditions, and value. Everything was clear, concrete, and honest. I didn’t think long about it and became a community member,” Vitalii recalls. “The experience and knowledge exchanged with professional energy colleagues accelerate development and help avoid mistakes. Quality networking and professional connections help find partners and clients. Together, we look for solutions to overcome challenges in our professional activities. The power of collective intelligence with different perspectives matters. Constant access to new research, technologies, and trends helps stay a step ahead in our industry. Conferences, workshops, forums, and other educational initiatives within the community help improve skills and expand competencies.

Joining forces helps change the rules, influence regulatory policy, or create new opportunities for all energy market participants.”

– How relevant and effective are the events organized by Energy Club?

“It’s worth noting that Energy Club always conducts events systematically and regularly. Relevant topics are discussed among experts in various energy sectors and interested audiences. We must follow today’s trends and technologies, market conditions, consider the contexts of unprecedented hostile attacks on energy facilities, and other war challenges. Accordingly, Energy Club participants always have something to share. Often, a heard solution to one problem allows us to use a successful case for ourselves and prevent similar difficulties in the future.”

– Are there examples when Energy Club helped solve certain problems or address important issues?

“Once, we were looking for a specialized expert to perform calculations for complex network operation modes. At an Energy Club event, we were introduced, and we successfully collaborated on several projects. I’ve taken many practical and useful tips for myself from various participants at forums and discussions. There are a number of technical and business issues that we managed to resolve after communicating with club members. We also solve social problems together.

I think Energy Club residents are conscious and understand that we all should not only be consumers of the value created by the community but also those who set trends, form industry rules and socially responsible business culture, and provide feedback in the state-business system.”

– What current challenges need to be discussed on the Energy Club platform?

“All relevant energy labyrinths and complexities are proposed for discussion. It so happens that in tumultuous times for the state, we talk more about energy security than about technological development. Perhaps it’s worth holding a large forum to discuss the problems not of those who generate, transmit, distribute, build, or trade, but to hear from those for whom all this exists, who pays for it – the consumer. Invite representatives of industrial companies from each region and hear directly from them how we can do our work better for them so they can safely work and develop. Because the energy system exists for the consumer, not the other way around!”

– You are an instructor for the Energy Club course on distributed generation. For whom and why are they important and useful, and what exactly do you plan to tell representatives of territorial communities and businesses?

“Yes, I will indeed have such an experience – being an instructor for this course. I will gladly share practical cases of implementing distributed generation projects. Our company, Voltage Group, has many interesting projects of this kind in its portfolio that have been successfully implemented and are working in the field of energy generation. In some cases, it’s about reducing electricity costs; in others, it’s about guaranteed power supply from gas piston installations, diesel generators, and industrial energy storage installations with photovoltaic stations.

All projects are very individual; our engineers always try to choose the most effective technical solutions for specific tasks. I am confident that successful examples of operating facilities will increase trust and open more opportunities for energy market participants – utilities, communities, social institutions, and manufacturing enterprises.”

– What kind of training, in your opinion, do energy market participants need today?

“I have no doubts about the technical expertise of specialists from companies participating in Ukraine’s energy market. The way they promptly and selflessly restored the energy system under the insane conditions of barbaric attacks evokes respect, gratitude, and confidence in the high level of qualification of our engineers.

However, we need to learn to find new solutions in energy, create new models, new products. We must form a culture of creating value for the client (consumer), remembering who this client is. We need to learn to trust each other and create joint investment projects, remembering the emergent properties where 1+1+1=10.

We need to think collectively well to achieve all this in narrower energy circles.”

– What could Energy Club organize in the future?

“Perhaps joint visits to energy facilities abroad with the most innovative solutions.

It’s probably not easy to balance the interests of such a mix of participants in Energy Club,” adds Vitalii Nikolaienko, speaking about the community’s activities. “We are all different in terms of activities. Some need a maximum market model, while others are not viable without subsidies, cross-subsidization. Some need a positive investment climate, while others need to approve investment programs. Someone is convinced of the uniqueness of nuclear generation, while another sees development in distributed generation with renewable energy sources and accumulation. Somewhere networks lag behind generation, and somewhere it’s the opposite. But at the same time, we all have very common problems, for example, with training highly qualified personnel for the energy sector, debts in the electricity market, and many others. Our industry community is like a pendulum that maintains balance between the interests of market participants, not allowing any side to outweigh.

And, of course, energy professionals love to talk about energy, each about their problems and victories. Many of us would rather talk than eat – the main thing is for transformers to hum, generators to spin, and lines to be under voltage where needed. You can feel people’s love for the profession. We share our practical cases, new projects, solutions, and market models. I always listen to older and more experienced friends in the energy sector.”

Energy Club Dossier

Vitalii Nikolaienko is a co-founder and head of VOLTAGE GROUP, which has been successfully working in the field of electrical networks and renewable energy facilities since 2009.

VOLTAGE GROUP conducts engineering activities in the field of electric power solutions. The company is engaged in the development of project documentation and construction of power lines, substations up to 150 kV, wind and solar power plants, BESS. It carries out the development of wind energy projects.

The company has technical expertise and 15 years of practical experience in implementing effective energy solutions. VOLTAGE GROUP provides optimal project implementation timelines, high standards of quality and safety, including comprehensive support at all project stages – from concept to implementation and operation, which allows providing comprehensive solutions.

Has been a member of Energy Club since 2019.