After every massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the country begins to restore the damaged facilities. It is an urgent, complex and highly risky recovery process.
But with each new phase, we are less and less a country that simply repairs what was destroyed. We are growing stronger and increasingly establishing ourselves as a nation that is rebuilding its energy sector on new principles: decentralization, flexibility, storage and a green transition.
Banks as a catalyst for recovery
On a national scale, the financial sector is now making the largest contribution to the recovery of the energy infrastructure.
Over the course of a year, from June 2024 to August 2025, Ukrainian banks financed the restoration of generation facilities with a capacity of 993 MW, as well as energy storage and heat generation projects with a capacity of 389 MW.
Overall, businesses received nearly 2,000 loans totaling UAH 24.7 billion, while over 9,000 more loans were issued to individuals.
This dynamic was made possible by a shift in the National Bank’s policy approach: through the reduction of risk coefficients for energy equipment, the adaptation of regulations and a joint strategy with the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance. The recovery of the energy sector has been officially recognized as one of the key lending priorities.
«EnerhoGrant»: new opportunities for households
Funding has also become more accessible for private individuals. PrivatBank, in cooperation with the EBRD, has launched the «EnerhoGrant» program: loans for solar power plants, inverters, batteries and heat pumps with compensation of up to 25% of the cost.
The program provides for allocations of up to UAH 1 million with no collateral or advance payment required, for a term of up to 5 years, with an approval decision within 2 minutes. The maximum compensation amount is available to veterans, veterans’ families, residents of de-occupied territories and those affected by the war.
«Storage systems» are changing consumption patterns
Energy storage is one of the most dynamic and promising technologies in the modern energy sector. And not just in theory. In Ukraine, «storages» energy storage systems are already transforming the energy logic for businesses: they reduce dependence on peak tariffs, enhance production reliability and open up new revenue models.
Over the past six years, the cost of energy storage systems has fallen by 8-10 times: if in 2019, 1 MW cost around €1 million, in 2025 it is already between €150,000 and €170,000.
This became possible thanks to technological progress, the scaling of energy storage projects and the end of market dominance by certain brands (primarily Huawei).
The emergence of new players – such as Chint, Hitium, Deye, and Jinko – has intensified competition and further contributed to the reduction in cost of energy storage systems. For example, the same Huawei energy storage units with a capacity of 2.2 MW and an energy storage capacity of 4.4 MWh now cost around €800,000, which is one-third less than a year ago.
Businesses with grid connection capacity that exceeds their actual consumption can use «storages» energy storage systems without changing their status in the energy system. For example, an enterprise with a grid connection of 2 MW but an actual consumption of 1 MW can store the surplus capacity in a battery and discharge it at the most profitable time, based on price fluctuations.
The most common use cases include:
- Energy arbitrage – charging at night/during the day and discharging in the morning and evening. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the average cost of electricity without changing the supplier.
- Integration with solar power plants – especially for facilities not covered by the «green tariff». «Storage» makes it possible to keep energy instead of selling it for pennies during the day and use it at the most profitable moment.
- Backup power – ensuring the safe shutdown or restart of technological processes during outages (critical for agricultural, food and chemical industries, glass manufacturing, etc.).
- Operating equipment with high inrush currents – a 5 MW battery can start pumps or compressors that cannot be «handled» by conventional power sources.
- Operation in the electricity market – as a separate investment vehicle: charging during low-cost hours and selling during high-price periods (day-ahead market, balancing market).
Such multifunctionality ensures a payback period of just 3–4.5 years, even without government support. More and more businesses are viewing storages as a standalone infrastructure that not only reduces risks but also creates added value.
At the same time, technical solutions are becoming increasingly adaptive: from compact 100 kW systems for retail stores or logistics warehouses to multi-megawatt installations for agricultural hubs and production lines.
In cities with large facilities (shopping malls, thermal power plants, grain elevators), energy storage systems are already becoming a tool for managing grid connection capacity – an asset that enables cost optimization or even revenue generation.
The market is growing rapidly: dozens of companies are implementing their own solutions, while major players like KNESS and DTEK are investing in hundreds of megawatts for grid balancing. However, challenges remain: market volatility and access to capital.
This is precisely why simplifying the regulatory environment and public-private incentive instruments will be critical in 2025–2026.
Energy Storage is no longer a technology of the future. It is the infrastructure that solves the problems of today and shapes the architecture of tomorrow’s energy system.
European standards are the foundation for structural change
In parallel, the regulatory framework is also changing. The Ministry of Energy has presented a draft law on the implementation of EU Directive 2018/2001 in the field of renewable energy.
The document defines the principles for developing energy communities, creating special zones for renewable energy and storage, establishes new data transparency requirements and simplifies permitting procedures.
A separate regulation applies to households: to participate in state support programs, the installation of a solar power plant (SPP) together with storage batteries (a minimum of 0.5 kWh per each kW of generation capacity) is required. Preferential grid connection terms for energy storage systems are also provided for, which is already being actively implemented in practice.
Ukraine is moving towards a new energy model
All of this is evidence not simply of recovery, but of a systemic transformation. It is founded on decentralization, energy storage, smart demand management and adaptation to new market models.
Ukraine’s energy sector is gradually transitioning to a configuration where flexibility, modularity and locality are becoming the core values.
A growing number of tools (financial, technological, and regulatory) are enabling the move towards a sustainable architecture. This is a shift to a model where businesses, households, communities and large-scale generation are not separate players, but parts of a single, interconnected and complementary system.
And it is precisely this model that gives us the best chance not just to endure, but to prevail. Both in energy and as a whole.
Article author: Vadym Lytvynenko, Executive Director of NVP «ENERGO-PLUS» LLC
Source: «ЕнергоБізнес», The Page.
