28.03.2025
2024 was an extremely important year for the energy sector of Ukraine, marked by war and its consequences, European integration aspirations, and climate challenges.
Energy Club – an association of leading companies in the energy sector of Ukraine, which creates opportunities for communication between stakeholders of the energy market, overcomes challenges, and makes a significant contribution to the development of the energy sector of Ukraine. And all this – thanks to coordinated work, cooperation, and partnership of all members of the association. The year of rapid transformations required clear actions in multitasking conditions, the ability to see ahead and act preventively.
In 2024, Energy Club was very active in discussing and solving problems related to energy in Ukraine. And in the fact that, despite numerous trials, the energy sector continues to develop today, there is a significant contribution from the club’s activities.
Understanding the problems in the energy sector, we draw the attention of specialists and society to them in advance and help initiate their discussion. We try to think ahead, pay attention to critical moments in order to eliminate the causes in time and not fight the consequences later.
Volodymyr Ioffe – Vice President of Energy Club:
“Thanks to its partners and participants, Energy Club is a communication and information platform needed by society. The activities of Energy Club are an investment contribution to human capital, which is difficult to measure, but it is able to ensure competitiveness, development, and the future of Ukraine.”
We share our greatest achievements in 2024.
The MEMORANDUM ON ETHICAL BEHAVIOR IN THE ENERGY SECTOR has been concluded, defining the basic principles and standards of ethical competition and conducting transparent business in the energy sector. The document was developed by the Energy Club community at the initiative of the Tolk group of companies and signed by more than 30 market players.
We held 55 events of various formats with the participation of representatives of the legislative and executive authorities of Ukraine, international partners, representatives of the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
As well as TWO FOOTBALL TOURNAMENTS and NINE FORUMS – in Kyiv and Budapest, four of which included specialized exhibitions.
Ivan Grygoruk, Vice President of Energy Club:
“In 2024, we managed to keep our team.
We maintain the microclimate in our joint work as favorable as possible; we have already survived COVID, and now – martial law.
The situation in the state as a whole and in energy in particular is constantly changing, and one of the indicators that we are doing everything right is that we have a stable, capable team, and OUR COMMUNITY HAS INCREASED.”
Energy Club – an association of more than 70 leading companies in the energy sector of Ukraine. In 2024, new participants joined us, international contacts, internal partnership, and cooperation expanded. The involvement of participants from all sectors of the energy market of Ukraine in the activities conducted by Energy Club significantly increased, and with it – the pace of dialogue and discussion. The professional dialogue of the industry was as productive, concrete, and direct as possible.
Maksym Bielawsky, Vice President of Energy Club:
“Despite the numerous challenges facing the energy sector of our state, at Energy Club we manage to find rational initiatives, provide useful recommendations in all areas of Ukraine’s energy policy. The scale of participants’ involvement in Energy Club activities has increased, the audience has grown, and with it – the pace of dialogue and the number of legislative changes, the efficiency of cooperation with the relevant committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. It is important not to be late and to move in sync with the market. In my opinion, Energy Club succeeds in this. We are heard. And this most broadly and fully reflects our achievement. What does it mean to be heard? They trust the community’s opinion, share its values, and develop together.”
Energy Club promotes professional development and is actively involved in training specialists in the energy sector. With the support of international organizations, in cooperation with Ukrainian universities, two training programs are already operating. Starting from 2020, we have introduced discussions around personnel training for specialists. Every time they become more professional and filled. Over the past two years, their result has been proposals for specific training programs, a substantive conversation about the number of specialists needed by the industry. We managed to establish a direct connection between two sources according to the blockchain technology principle: educational institutions and production enterprises. For representatives of local communities, small and medium-sized businesses, training programs “EnergoStart” and “Distributed Generation” are successfully implemented.
Maksym Nemchynov, Vice President of Energy Club:
“We have created opportunities for specialized professionals to broaden their horizons, develop global thinking, and see more deeply the situation in Ukrainian energy to understand future challenges that will be associated with integration into the European market.
We continue to work in this direction, because, firstly, it is useful for our energy system, and secondly, we find it interesting, and we have the opportunity to do it.”
Energy Freedom by Energy Club is a discussion of professionals in the energy sector: representatives of government structures, central authorities, people’s deputies, companies, and leading industry experts. We have become a fairly influential structure in terms of policy formation: we provide professional assessment and express competent opinion; we take a thoughtful approach to any problem and always discuss it with a very wide range of involved persons from stakeholders, and then give a balanced position on the solution of one or another issue. Energy Club actively cooperates with the Ministry of Energy, NEURC, and the Committee on Fuel and Energy Complex of the Verkhovna Rada. We are invited to identify problems, they are interested in our position, take into account our opinion, and listen. Today there is a clear understanding: Energy Club always has its professional, expert position, taking into account the opinions of a wide range of businesses in energy. It is impossible to ignore this position.
The main laws on the electricity market, gas, thermal energy, all regulatory and legal documentation, operational safety standards, rules for arrangement of electrical installations and technical operation, technical safety need to be harmonized. This has already begun, Energy Club members are actively involved in these processes. The operational safety standard has already been harmonized and signed by the relevant Ministry. This is the result of teamwork, which all specialists in Ukraine worked on. Next in line is harmonization in accordance with European standards of rules for arrangement and technical operation of electrical installations, Smart grid network standards, micro grid, which allow ensuring the operation of the electrical installation in three modes – normal, repair-emergency, and isolated for dedicated load.”
Maksym Nemchynov, Vice President of Energy Club:
“In 2024, Energy Club was very active in discussing and solving problems related to energy in our state. One of the most important achievements is that we managed to unite virtually the entire energy community of Ukraine – state companies, private business – and professionally discuss important areas of activity on a single platform.
The position of Energy Club is the quintessence of knowledge and experience of market participants, business opinions. We try to think ahead, pay attention to critical moments, in order to eliminate the causes in time and not fight the consequences later. First of all, we need to think about the end of the war, further integration into the European Union, and how to make the domestic market attractive for investment.”
Volodymyr Ioffe, Vice President of Energy Club:
“In my opinion, in special conditions, the initial formation of a social paradigm of modern energy thinking is taking place. At all levels – from the local community to national governance – there is a need for and gradual emergence of people who have an internal view and appropriate professional knowledge for decision-making, attracting financing and implementing energy projects, internal confidence that a small or large justification should consider available modern technical alternatives, risks and social consequences, financial model and implementation plan.
The implementation of such forms of preliminary justifications precisely at the level of local communities is extremely necessary. Just as necessary is an open public discussion of a wide range of issues of recovery and further development – through understanding that the economic structure of the state has changed, the recovery of the energy component will take place on a modern material, technical, and information basis and requires a new architecture.”
The active phase of Russia’s armed aggression forced companies to go beyond Ukraine. Energy Club also works at the international level, establishes connections with partners, with energy companies of other countries, primarily Europe. This is one of the main tasks today, as Ukraine needs the help of the global community in supplying not only weapons but also energy equipment.
Attracting innovative technologies, participating in the technical and technological development of the energy sector is a priority direction of international cooperation for Ukraine and Energy Club. We also worked on how to make the investment climate in Ukraine more attractive for foreign investors, determined the role of international financial organizations in supporting the development of RES in Ukraine, and the contribution of the Commercial Risk Insurance Fund in attracting investments and ensuring market stability.
In 2024, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Energy Club and Mayekawa company – one of the largest and oldest in Japan, which produces compressor equipment for the oil and gas industry, high-quality efficient heat pumps, which are currently very important for the further development of Ukraine and ensuring energy efficiency and energy conservation. We held a major event in Ukraine for Japanese partners – a presentation of their equipment. It was implemented with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – this is a government organization subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. JICA provides technical assistance, grants, and concessional loans to developing countries to promote their economic and social development. We see great prospects in cooperation with Japanese colleagues, with the government of Japan, and believe that the technologies we can get from them will be very useful for Ukraine in terms of energy efficiency and energy supply.
Right now, a global energy transition is taking place to increase the use and efficiency of renewable and alternative energy sources. A very wide range of solutions in terms of access to raw materials, capital and operating costs, environmental impact, etc. Of course, Ukrainian business primarily implements projects in the fields of wind, bioenergy, energy storage, transformation of municipal economy, distribution and management systems, cogeneration and hybrid energy technologies.
In 2024, we initiated programs for wind generation, energy efficiency for co-owners of apartment buildings, installation of balcony power plants, heat pumps, etc., and hope that with the support of state and local funding, grant programs, they will continue to be implemented. New solutions in the fields of nuclear, hydrogen, and geothermal energy will also find their application.
Igor Chumachenko, Vice President of Energy Club:
“The enemy’s destruction of coal TPPs and the reduction in the use of coal for electricity generation, the closure of mines, as a result of which Ukrainian coke-chemical plants were left without raw materials, and many people without work – all this significantly affects energy and the mining and metallurgical complex.
The crisis in the coal industry is taking place against the background of the European Union’s adoption of a plan to decarbonize the economy and the introduction of a carbon footprint tax. I don’t see an alternative to green energy today. It already objectively costs less than thermal energy. Also, in solar energy, there is practically no ‘entry threshold.'”
Exchange of experience, ideas, and best practices, as well as the development of specific strategies and initiatives that will promote the development of distributed generation, the use of renewable energy sources, strengthening energy independence at the state and local levels – the main tasks of the forums held by Energy Club in 2024.
Challenges regarding the energy supply of social and economic infrastructure facilities force us to look for ways to develop our own electricity production facilities for the purposes of own consumption. In 2024, leading experts and specialists in the industry on Energy Club platforms discussed a wide range of topics that are key to the development and modernization of the national energy system. The main attention was paid to strategies for the development and renewal of distribution networks. The challenges and prospects associated with the integration of renewable energy sources were considered. We discussed how modern technologies can transform the management and maintenance of energy networks. The energy landscape is changing, the former “pure” consumer generates a share of the energy needed by society, and energy exchange becomes bilateral.
Ivan Grygoruk, Vice President of Energy Club:
“With its activities, Energy Club has managed to unite virtually all leading energy companies. We work for a single result and try in any issue, whether at the level of generation or transportation, distribution of gas or electricity – to identify the problem, propose ways to solve it as a technocratic, balanced, and legally correctly formulated solution.
Energy is fundamental for the economy. Therefore, we are for a constructive approach and the search for solutions that will be useful both for the industry, for all participants in the energy sector, and for the economy of Ukraine.”
PROTECTING CONSUMERS
Given the significant amount of damage and the long-term period for the restoration of destroyed energy equipment of substations and power plants, there is an urgent need to build new maneuverable generation to maintain the power balance in the country’s energy system. However, this is a long-term process. Therefore, the main burden in the form of restrictions during the balancing of the country’s energy system, as well as in eliminating the consequences of destruction as a result of enemy shelling, is placed on industrial consumers of electricity in Ukraine.
With the beginning of full-scale hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, a significant part of industrial consumers of electricity was destroyed or relocated.
We support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and believe in Victory, continue to help and volunteer.
Ivan Grygoruk, Vice President of Energy Club:
“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, specialists in the energy sector, of which there are already few, have stood up to defend the state, and until the end of hostilities, it is impossible to return them, because there is no rotation. A significant part of our colleagues are fighting at the front, and we all help them. Twice a year, Energy Club organizes charity tournaments in which all energy companies participate. Each subsequent such event becomes more large-scale and effective than the previous ones, in terms of the number of participants and donations collected.
Accordingly, our assistance to the front and defense forces is increasing. Also, each of us volunteers personally as well.”
