On Wednesday, February 14, the Ministry of Economy released the draft National Energy and Climate Plan of Ukraine 2025-2030, which outlines medium- and long-term scenarios for the development of the energy system and forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions.
This is a strategic document that should harmonize energy and climate policies for sustainable development and economic recovery of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy reports.
It is noted that the preparation of the National Plan is an obligation of Ukraine under the Treaty establishing the Energy Community, as required by EU Regulation 2018/1999 and methodological recommendations of the European Commission. In addition, the development and approval of the NECP is a condition for the allocation of EU financial assistance under the future special instrument Ukraine Facility.
As of the beginning of 2024, the estimated environmental damage exceeded €56 billion. Currently, more than 3,300 court cases have been opened, and prosecutors are investigating 280 criminal cases of ecocide and environmental war crimes.
Basic provisions of the National Plan
The NECP contains a number of decarbonisation targets, namely:
- reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 65% compared to the level of 1990 (which coincides with the ambitious goal stated in the Updated Nationally Determined Contribution of Ukraine to the Paris Agreement of the NBB2);
- achieving climate neutrality of the energy sector by 2050 and the entire economy by 2060;
- decommissioning of coal-fired generation by 2035;
- reducing methane emissions by 30% by 2030 from the 2020 level;
- strengthening the adaptive capacity and stability of social, economic and ecological systems to climate change;
- achieving a 27% share of renewable energy sources in the structure of total final energy consumption in 2030 (in 2020, this indicator was 9%);
- reaching the share of RES in the gross final energy consumption by 2030 of 35% in the heating and cooling sector, 25.4% in the energy mix, 14% in transport;
- achieving a 25% RES share in total electricity production by 2030;
"To increase the stability of the energy system and the competitiveness of the market, Ukraine implements policies for the development of distributed generation (primarily based on RES and energy storage installations) and "smart networks". These policies provide for more active participation of consumers in the market and the use of new market models – the mechanism of self-production (self-consumption) , aggregation, demand management, energy cooperatives, etc.," the National Plan states.
- achieving the share of alternative energy sources (RES and secondary energy resources) in the production of thermal energy in 2025 – 30%, in 2035 – 40%;
- increasing the level of use of alternative types of fuel (biofuel or its mixture with traditional fuel) and electricity (produced from both traditional and renewable sources) in the transport sector to 50% by 2030.
The document also sets goals for:
- energy efficiency;
- energy security;
- internal energy market of electricity, as well as gas, biomethane, hydrogen and oil;
- research, innovation and competitiveness.
The National Plan emphasizes that the main barriers to the implementation of energy-efficient measures are:
- distortion of the tariff policy;
- lack of qualified personnel for project identification and implementation;
- limited opportunities to attract financing and the high cost of the funds involved;
- lack of sustainable state co-financing of energy efficiency measures.
The document also plans to develop a number of measures to stimulate biomethane production, including the development and submission to the Cabinet of Ministers of a draft law "On the Use of Biomethane as a Motor Fuel, in Particular for Public Transport and Agricultural Machinery."
Comments and suggestions to the draft National Plan can be sent until March 14 to the address: 12/2, Hrushevskoho St., Kyiv, 01008, or by e-mail to podmarova@me.gov.ua.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources has developed a draft Strategy for the Formation and Implementation of State Policy in the Field of Climate Change for the period up to 2035 and announced its discussion.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources has developed a draft law "On the Basic Principles of State Climate Policy" and announced the start of its discussion.
