11.11.2025
Energy Club is bringing together key market players, investors, and regulators to discuss practical steps for the development of the storage systems industry at the forum “Energy of Freedom: Resilience and New Opportunities for the Energy Storage Systems Market in Ukraine”, which will take place in Kyiv on November 20.
One of the experts at the event will be Andriy Kobolyev, Founder and CEO of ENEY. He will speak about shaping a transparent market, attracting investments, and launching new projects. Attendees at the forum will learn how to create an attractive market for storage systems in Ukraine, which business models will be profitable in Ukrainian realities, and how to stimulate investment and simplify the launch of new projects.
In an interview with the Energy Club media department, Andriy Kobolyev shared his expert vision for the development of the energy storage market in Ukraine: why ESS is a critical element of energy freedom, how to make the market attractive to investors, and which technologies will help the country remain energetically resilient even during crises.
— Mr. Kobolyev, you have unique experience in managing Europe’s largest underground gas storage (UGS) facilities. Today, everyone is talking about Energy Storage Systems (ESS). How correct is it to draw parallels between them? Can ESS be considered the same fundamental element of the country’s energy security as gas in UGS, especially in the context of military challenges?
— If we try to draw a parallel, then gas storage facilities are the “battery” of the molecule era, and energy storage systems are the “battery” of the electron era. Both perform the same key function—they smooth out the imbalance between when energy can be produced and when it needs to be consumed.
But the difference is in scale and speed. Gas UGS facilities operate on a seasonal horizon—this is “strategic stability.” ESS operates on a horizon of seconds, minutes, hours—this is “operational resilience.” So, if UGS is the body armor, then ESS is the nervous system. And for a country living under constant risks of attack, both are needed simultaneously.
— The forum is titled “Energy of Freedom.” In your opinion, how much freedom—meaning resilience and independence from external attacks and internal failures—can energy storage systems give Ukraine? Is it a “silver bullet” or just one of many elements?
— Energy storage is precisely about the energy of freedom. Because freedom is when you don’t depend on when the wind blows, the sun shines, or when someone decides to shell a substation again.
ESS is not a “silver bullet.” But it is a critical piece of the mosaic: a decentralized, adaptive system that doesn’t break from a single blow. When a country has thousands of independent energy storage points—that is no longer just stability, but energy immunity.
During massive shelling, batteries play the role of a “time bridge”—they allow for the reduction or complete avoidance of periods of total blackout. Even a few dozen megawatt-hours of distributed storage can mean that a hospital, a data center, or a water utility stops not for hours, but only for minutes. This is the difference between collapse and a controlled adaptation of the system. And it is this ability to quickly pick up the grid after attacks that makes ESS a tool not only of energy security but even of national security.
— The forum’s agenda includes the question of how to make energy storage profitable. From your experience, what is the main barrier today to massive private investment in storage systems in Ukraine? Is it the war, the lack of transparent regulation, or have the business models simply not proven their payback yet?
— The main barrier right now is not the war, and not even the lack of money. The problem is the absence of a stable and predictable market for the services that ESS can provide.
Business will always find a way if it understands how and what it will be paid for. So far, the regulatory system has not created “rules of the game” that allow for calculating payback. In the EU, this was done through flexibility markets, balancing services, and capacity payments. In Ukraine, we are only at the start of this journey.
For this market to work, two practical problems need to be solved. The first is timely and transparent settlements in the balancing market. Investors will not enter a sector where it is impossible to predict cash flow or where payments are delayed for months. The second is access to capital. Banks and international financial institutions must simplify lending procedures for ESS projects and start treating them not as “experimental objects,” but as fully-fledged infrastructure assets with long-term returns. Without solving these two issues, even the best technology will not become a business.
— You founded the company “ENEY.” What is your company’s mission, and how is its activity related to the energy storage market and the construction of a new, decentralized energy system?
— We created “ENEY” with a simple goal—to make smart energy accessible. Our logic is not to wait for someone to build a “large centralized system,” but to create a new architecture from the bottom up.
We invest in storage systems, develop new Energy-as-a-Service models, and connect businesses and private consumers to the new energy system. This is about both resilience and efficiency. Because the future is not one giant power unit, but a million smart nodes working in sync.
— The market is discussing various ESS monetization models: operating in the balancing market, price arbitrage (buying at night, selling at peaks), autonomy services for industry. Which of these models, in your opinion, is the most viable and scalable in Ukrainian realities right now?
— In the short term, the most predictable and stable sources of income for storage systems could be the ancillary services market—primarily Frequency Containment Reserve (FCR) and Frequency Restoration Reserve (FRR). These are the segments that form a clear demand, transparent pricing logic, and a long-term need for flexibility from the system operator.
In parallel, arbitrage on the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) is developing—when a battery buys electricity at night and sells it during peak prices in the day. This is already a real monetization model that becomes more relevant every month amid growing price volatility.
At the same time, for these models to function normally, the problem of payments in the balancing market must be solved. Without transparent and timely settlements, investors cannot predict profitability, and storage systems will not become a full-fledged participant in the flexibility market.
In industry, the demand for autonomy continues to grow rapidly—enterprises are striving for energy independence from blackouts. This is not yet about maximizing profits, but about survival, continuity of production, and the reputation of a business that remains reliable even in a crisis.
— How do you see Ukraine’s future energy balance? Often, the flexibility provided by gas generation (e.g., gas-piston and gas-turbine stations) is contrasted with the flexibility provided by batteries. Are they competitors for investment, or are they complementary technologies for our new energy system?
— They are not competitors—they are different “muscles” of the same system. Gas generation provides long-term flexibility—hours, days, even weeks. Batteries provide short-term, but ultra-fast flexibility.
Both technologies are needed in Ukraine’s future energy balance. A battery can instantly stabilize the frequency, and a gas power plant can support the capacity until the sun comes up. The only important thing is that the system of incentives does not pit them against each other, but allows for synergy.
— You are one of the key speakers at our forum on November 20. What is the main message or thesis you plan to convey to market participants, investors, and government representatives during your speech? Why should they come and hear your opinion?
— My main message is that energy storage is not about “gadgets” or even a business niche. It is about the future architecture of our freedom.
If we do not build our own flexibility system, we will be forced to buy it from our neighbors. And then, independence will remain just a word.
Therefore, I call on investors and the authorities to look at ESS not as an experiment, but as the infrastructure of the 21st century. And while others are still thinking—to act now.
What does this mean? For the government—to adopt clear and stable rules of the game: ensure timely settlements in the balancing market, launch capacity auctions as they do in Europe, and create conditions for “green” financing of ESS. For business—not to wait for perfect conditions, but to test models, form consortiums, build the first facilities, and set examples. For banks—to learn to see storage not as a risk, but as an asset that increases the reliability of the system.
Because energy freedom does not appear from a decree or a strategy—it is created by the hands of those who have the courage to start first.
Finally, I want to emphasize that today we can hold strategic discussions of this caliber thanks to the work of Ukrainian energy workers. These are people who perform heroic deeds every day so that we are not left in the dark.
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