Oleksandr Sigal - "Before building the energy sector, tell me: what kind of economy do we want to have - Industrial or Agrarian?"

03.02.2026

On February 3, Energy Club held an expert discussion titled “The Future of Thermal Energy: Between Decentralization and Reality.”

Amid constant threats to the energy infrastructure, leading experts, government officials, and business representatives gathered to discuss a new heat supply strategy and find a balance between centralized generation and decentralized solutions.

Here are the key insights from the event speaker.

Sigal urged the country to define its economic model, which dictates energy needs, and reminded the audience of forgotten reserves.

Oleksandr Sigal - PhD, Head of Laboratory at the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of the NAS of Ukraine

“We are building an energy mix. The era of cheap energy is over. If we want an industrial state, we need about 50 billion kWh; if agrarian—significantly less.

We can quickly tap into industrial boiler houses and factory CHPs present in every city—they should be connected to the heating system as reserves. Regarding distributed generation: it increases security but produces energy at a higher price. We must understand this balance.”