In Vinnytsia, plans were discussed regarding the possibility of establishing ‘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.
To develop concrete solutions and a roadmap for establishing energy communities, the ‘Synergy’ Sustainable Development Agency and Vinnytsia City Council, in collaboration with PPV and the ‘Society and Environment’ Resource and Analytical Centre, held strategic sessions on 18 and 19 February, attended by staff from Vinnytsia City Council departments, representatives of businesses, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, housing associations and civil society organisations who are ready to establish a ‘green’ energy community.
The participants developed solutions for four business cases involving the creation of energy communities: for a business consortium, an energy community for a healthcare facility, an energy community for an educational institution, and for a homeowners’ association. For each case, they identified potential needs and forms of support, as well as potential obstacles from local authorities. They also identified other key stakeholders, apart from local authorities, and ways of engaging with them.
‘The format of strategic planning involving a wide range of stakeholders offers a unique opportunity to examine cases from all angles, hear everyone’s views and find the best solutions,’ said Viktoria Vostryakova, chair of the NGO ‘Synergy Sustainable Development Agency’. “Creating green energy communities in Ukraine is an extremely important yet highly complex task due to the weak legislative framework, which is only just taking shape. Despite these challenges, we have managed to develop two realistic and viable business models for energy communities, as well as an interesting solution for the utilities sector.”
As Victoria Vostryakova noted, the outcomes of the strategic sessions will form the basis of the Roadmap for the creation of green energy communities in the Kyiv Metropolitan Area, which will be presented shortly.
“By launching pilot energy communities, the Vinnytsia community can gain experience that it can share with other communities across Ukraine and become a leader in the application of this local development tool,” said Volodymyr Vorobey, business coach, project facilitator and director of the PPV Economic Development Agency.
For reference
Energy communities are groups of citizens, organisations or businesses that jointly own and manage renewable energy projects. An energy community can be established within industrial parks, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, housing associations, community organisations, and so on.
Members of such a community establish a legal entity for the generation of electricity, including from renewable sources, and may engage in the distribution, supply, consumption, aggregation and storage of energy, the provision of energy efficiency services or electric vehicle charging services, or the provision of other energy services to their members.
The Vinnytsia community is one of the first to fully recognise the importance of the ‘green’ transition and has identified the need to adapt local policies in line with global trends. Indeed, in 2022, the Vinnytsia City Council was the first to proclaim the ‘Vinnytsia Green Deal’, the basis for the implementation of which is the principles and foundations of the EU’s ‘European Green Deal’ initiative, adopted in 2019. Achieving climate neutrality lies at the heart of the Vinnytsia Green Deal and is its central element. Decarbonising the energy system, transitioning to renewable energy sources (RES), and promoting energy efficiency are critical to achieving the community’s climate goals.
At the same time, the war in Ukraine and the systematic shelling of the energy infrastructure have created a need to decentralise the energy system and transition to environmentally sustainable renewable energy sources. All this can be achieved through the implementation of a range of measures, including the formation of energy communities, whose activities will help to accelerate and scale up local citizens’ initiatives to implement distributed renewable energy generation projects and create ‘green’ jobs across the Vinnytsia region.
P.S. You can find out more about green energy communities in the guide and podcast.
Strategic sessions to develop a roadmap for establishing green energy communities in Vinnytsia will take place with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation as part of the project “Vinnytsia’s Green Course: From Strategy to Practice”, implemented by the Synergy Sustainable Development Agency and the Society and Environment Resource and Analytical Centre in cooperation with Vinnytsia City Council.
