22.09.2025
On September 25, the forum “Resilience and Transformation: Balancing Ukraine’s energy system in a new reality” will take place in Kyiv—a frank conversation among professionals who hold the energy front every day. We will not discuss hypothetical risks; we will share real experiences and search for practical solutions to strengthen our energy system.
The Ukrainian energy system is operating under conditions unknown to any other country in modern history. Constant attacks on infrastructure, the need for rapid recovery, and the simultaneous global trend of decarbonization present us with unique and highly complex challenges. For Ukraine, the issue of balancing is not just about integrating RES. It is, first and foremost, a matter of national security, resilience, and survival. Old instructions and approaches no longer work. We need new solutions, developed here and now.
One of the speakers at the forum will be Yehor Zakharchenko, Head of the RES department at D.TRADING. He will cover the topic of challenges and opportunities for optimizing RES generation in an unbalanced energy system.
In an interview with the Energy Club media department, Yehor Zakharchenko discussed how the current situation affects the commercial component: pricing, profitability, and contract terms with RES producers; how the challenges have made the market more complex, yet more mature; the strategies and tools for minimizing imbalances and financial losses in the current conditions; and the case studies from his own experience that he plans to focus on most during his speech.
— Mr. Yehor, your topic at the forum is working with RES generation in a damaged grid. What three main operational challenges for a trader working with “green” energy in today’s Ukrainian realities would you highlight?
— Today, any business in Ukraine faces far more challenges than it might seem at first glance, especially in the energy sector. If we focus exclusively on working with “green” generation and choose the three main ones, from my experience, I would highlight the following:
— How much has the accuracy of RES generation forecasting deteriorated due to grid damage and frequent dispatch commands, and how does this affect a trader’s daily work?
— I cannot confirm that the accuracy of RES generation forecasting has deteriorated. For the facilities we work with, we observe the opposite trend, because the longer a forecasting model operates at a specific station, the higher its quality becomes, which improves the forecast accuracy. Grid damage and frequent dispatch commands are, of course, an additional burden. And this burden not only can but must be managed. The main tool for this is high-quality communication between the trader and the generation company.
— What new strategies and tools is a trader forced to use to minimize imbalances and financial losses in such conditions?
— The transition of RES generation to the free market began during the state of martial law and is now in an active phase. Therefore, all strategies and tools for optimizing “green” production can be considered new. If formulated as a strategy, it could be: “Minimizing the imbalance for partners producing ‘green’ energy, maximizing the gross revenue from the project, and providing high-quality service.” The tools are a trader’s competitive advantage, so they can be different and individual, for example, risky, where the trader takes full responsibility for the RES imbalance. In this way, the trader assumes all the risk and covers 100% of the imbalance, regardless of the direction and volume of imbalances of other participants in the balancing group.
— How has the interaction between the trader, NPC “Ukrenergo,” and RES producers changed? Has communication and coordination become more complex?
— The challenges have made the market more complex, but at the same time more mature—we are moving towards more technological coordination in the energy sector. The interaction between the trader and NPC “Ukrenergo” in terms of generation management appeared not so long ago, specifically with the launch of aggregators. I believe that the main communication between RES, the TSO, and the aggregator is still ahead, when the latter will unite many distributed generation facilities, and NPC “Ukrenergo” will manage a significant volume of generation precisely through the trader.
— How does the current situation affect the commercial component: pricing, profitability, and contract terms with RES producers?
— The current situation is another challenge. Stations located in the east face limitations due to the destruction of power lines. This happens instantly and unpredictably, which inevitably creates a significant imbalance. On our part, commercial conditions are not worsened for such companies, although the profitability of deals decreases and the risks increase. We build partnerships and agree on effective communication between representatives of such a generation facility to receive information about similar situations as quickly as possible and reduce the negative impact on the commercial result.
— From a trader’s perspective, what key changes in market rules do you expect from the NEURC to make working with RES more predictable and less risky?
— Where there is risk, there is also an opportunity for a trader to demonstrate their professionalism. The Regulator, for its part, has contributed to the creation of mechanisms for RES generation to operate in market conditions, such as the implementation of the Feed-in-Premium compensation mechanism. The main thing is that this mechanism continues to work effectively, and that companies actually receive funds under this mechanism.
— What technological solutions (e.g., battery energy storage systems – BESS) are most critical for stabilizing the operation of RES in Ukraine in the near future?
— Energy storage systems are precisely the most important element for both stabilizing RES in Ukraine and increasing the commercial efficiency of RES projects as a whole. Second are modern digital tools for forecasting and managing generation in real time. Together, they make it possible to balance “green” energy.
— What practical aspects and case studies from your experience do you plan to focus on most during your speech at the forum on September 25?
— On existing tools for optimizing RES generation and maximizing income, both when working with an aggregator or trader, and for increasing the profitability of RES projects in general.
