By KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Participation in the balancing group of JSC Energy Company of Ukraine (ECU) allowed state-owned companies to save more than UAH 565 million in a year, the company reported.
According to the ECU release on Tuesday, state-owned companies participating in the group, including the largest electricity producer Energoatom and its large consumers, within the framework of the state balancing group were able to optimize electricity imbalances.
“The creation of Ukraine’s first state balancing group was a serious challenge due to the war and the market situation. But a year later it became a win-win story in which all stakeholders won. Nuclear generation, green energy producers, and consumers receive a tangible economic effect. In addition, the level of optimization of imbalances is constantly growing thanks to the involvement of new participants and the development of the balancing group,” Vitaly Butenko, General Director of ECU, is quoted in the release.
According to Energoatom President Petro Kotin, who are also cited in the release, ECU makes a significant contribution to the innovation of the Ukrainian energy market, despite the martial law.
The release also states that the participants of the ECU balancing group are a number of electricity producers from renewable energy sources, including companies with foreign investments.
The company quotes the managing director of the largest foreign investor in renewable energy sources in Ukraine, Elementum Energy, Olha Rybachuk, who noted that the presence of an effective balancing group is an important condition for the successful work of renewable energy producers who risked suspending the sale of electricity at the feed-in tariff (having left the balancing group of SOE Guaranteed Buyer), and entered the free market.
At the same time, Rybachuk explained that for solar or wind power plants, imbalances are usually higher due to the influence of weather conditions, and so far the best forecasting practices are not able to reduce imbalances to zero.
As noted by ECU, created in November 2022, its balancing group ranks second in size in the Ukrainian electricity market.
