15.10.2025
On September 25, 2025, the Energy Club forum “Resilience and Transformation: Balancing Ukraine’s Energy System in a New Reality” took place in Kyiv. During the panel discussion “Reconstruction and Future: Technology, Investments, and Regulation for Ukraine’s New Energy Sector,” Yurii Podoliak, CEO of IKNET, shared a practical vision of the current state of the industry, investment trends, and the future of Energy Storage Systems (ESS) technologies.
Distributed Generation: From Survival to Development
”As engineers involved in the design, development of technical specifications, and development schemes for Distribution System Operators (DSOs), we see that, unfortunately, DSOs currently lack a strategy for the development of distributed generation. At best, they are surviving,” noted Yurii Podoliak.
According to him, over the past three years, IKNET has participated in projects with a total capacity of over 400 MW of distributed maneuverable generation. Key achievements include the launch in 2025 of Ukraine’s first large industrial accumulation system, implemented with the support of the OKKO group of companies.
”Many such systems are currently being built. From an investment perspective, everything is good. It’s just that many projects are not publicized by the state, communities, or investors. We are involved in truly unique initiatives—for example, projects for gas turbine power plants that arrived in Ukraine as ready-made modules donated by international partners. And there are hundreds of megawatts of capacity already built or in the process of implementation,” Podoliak emphasized.
The Efficiency Crisis: When Equipment Doesn’t Work
He pointed out that a significant portion of the destruction in the sector falls precisely on maneuverable generation, distribution, and balancing, and not just on large generation facilities. This creates serious problems for all market participants—from the state to local communities and businesses.
”We often join in as crisis managers when equipment doesn’t work. Because every system has its limitations. A gas-piston station is sensitive to consumption fluctuations; solar power doesn’t work in winter or at night; diesel cannot run continuously; accumulation has a limited resource. And the main problem is the lack of balancing and a systemic approach,” he stressed.
Podoliak compared the development of Ukrainian distributed generation to a child learning: “We’ve just started school. The word ‘generation’ is already understood. ‘Distribution’ is just beginning to emerge. And there is absolutely no talk of ‘balancing’ yet.”
Investment and Integration: How to Combine Generation and Consumption
The Head of IKNET emphasized the critical lack of combination between different types of energy sources at enterprises: “Businesses buy diesel, solar, gas generators, and storage systems. But they are not integrated with each other. During blackouts, businesses will find that this doesn’t work because the systems are unbalanced, although technically, a very effective solution could be created.”
He noted that any project should begin with an energy audit, an analysis of strengths and weaknesses, and then the development of a concept, an action plan, and automation.
The GIZ Case: Energy Audit for Communities
Yurii Podoliak shared an example of IKNET’s participation in a joint project with the German foundation GIZ and the Energy Club, within which technical specifications for distributed generation were developed for five Ukrainian communities. “We analyzed the resources and needs of each community and determined which technology and capacity would be the most effective. This is very important, as communities are often provided with generators without considering the characteristics of the facilities or the possibilities for grid connection,” he explained.
State Support and Legislative Changes
The speaker also drew attention to positive changes in the regulatory framework:
”Just eight months ago, we were legally unable to connect energy storage systems to generation—it was prohibited by law. And now, we are already completing the design of large electricity storage facilities for a state generating structure. And this project will become a reality in 2026.”
The Era of Energy Storage Systems: The Future That Has Arrived
The Head of IKNET is convinced that Ukraine has already entered the ESS era: “In 5–10 years, we will be able to come to a country house with a small box that will power it for an entire month. Technologies are developing and becoming cheaper. Over the past year and a half, accumulation equipment has halved in price. Currently, 1 MWh costs less than €100,000, and the average payback period is 2–2.5 years.”
”This is the future that has already arrived. And along with it—the future of solar and wind energy, as ESS becomes the key to their balancing,” concluded Yurii Podoliak.
