Roadmap for the development of green energy communities in Vinnytsia
Amid the ongoing energy crisis caused by the war, climate change and dependence on fossil fuels, the Vinnytsia City Territorial Community (VMTG) has a unique opportunity to become a leader in the field of just green recovery. One of the tools for achieving this is the creation of green energy communities.
Energy communities are groups of citizens, organisations or businesses that jointly own and manage renewable energy projects. At present, the status of ‘green’ energy communities is not clearly defined in Ukrainian national legislation, which is hindering their development. This is precisely why it is important to enshrine the concept of establishing energy communities in local strategic and policy documents.
The first step in this direction is the development of a Roadmap for the Development of Green Energy Communities in the Vinnytsia City Territorial Community (VMTG), on which the team from the ‘Synergy’ Sustainable Development Agency has been working as part of the project “Vinnytsia’s Green Course: From Strategy to Practice”, implemented by the Synergy Sustainable Development Agency and the Resource and Analytical Centre “Society and Environment” in cooperation with Vinnytsia City Council, with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.
You can download the Roadmap for the Development of Green Energy Communities in the Vinnytsia City Territorial Community (VMTG) via the link.
The roadmap is a strategic planning tool designed to facilitate the development of local energy initiatives based on the principles of community participation, energy democracy and sustainable development.
As Viktoria Vostryakova, chair of the NGO ‘Synergy Sustainable Development Agency’, explained during the presentation of the document, it is impossible to simply replicate the experience of other countries when establishing energy communities, as people are at the heart of such communities:
“We are pleased that this roadmap was not simply drawn up based on examples from abroad. As part of the work on it, we organised a series of events. We began with strategic sessions involving representatives from the public, the business sector, educational institutions and Vinnytsia City Council. After compiling the initial findings, we organised an online presentation where we discussed the draft roadmap and made a number of adjustments to the document to ensure it was realistic to implement. We then identified which areas could be prioritised and which should be left for later.”
The document sets out the vision and objectives for the development of energy communities within the local authority area up to 2030, and includes a comprehensive analysis of the regulatory framework, stakeholders, implementation scenarios and implementation strategies.
The roadmap places particular emphasis on adapting European practices for establishing and supporting ‘green’ energy communities to the Ukrainian context, as well as integrating the concept into local policies such as the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP), the Municipal Energy Plan (MEP) and Vinnytsia’s Green Course.
The roadmap sets out a series of specific actions—ranging from pilot projects to open digital platforms—aimed at creating a marketplace for municipal renewable energy sites, and envisages the active involvement of residents, businesses, housing associations, NGOs, educational institutions and local authorities.
The document also provides a preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of the proposed measures and provides for the further development of financial instruments to support their implementation.
As Viktoria Vostryakova pointed out, Vinnytsia was chosen for this project because the community is open to experimentation and piloting initiatives:
“For Vinnytsia, this means reduced dependence on energy imports, enhanced energy security, new economic opportunities, new jobs and the strengthening of local democracy.”
You can download the Roadmap for the Development of Green Energy Communities in the Vinnytsia City Territorial Community (VMTG) via the link.
This initiative is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation as part of the project “Vinnytsia’s Green Course: From Strategy to Practice”, which is being implemented by the Synergy Sustainable Development Agency and the Society and Environment Resource and Analytical Centre in collaboration with Vinnytsia City Council.
