On 17 March, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the Law on the Development of High-Efficiency Cogeneration, the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency (EUEA) reported on 23 March 2023.
The law defines the requirements for the introduction of highly efficient production of thermal energy and electricity while implementing the requirements of the EU’s energy efficiency directive (Directive 2012/27/EU).
The law defines cogeneration as highly efficient if the efficiency of energy generation by the cogeneration plant compared to the reference values of the efficiency of separate production of thermal and electrical energy, results in savings of primary energy at the level of more than 10 per cent (for installations with a capacity of more than one megawatt (MW) inclusive); more than zero per cent (for small cogeneration plants with a capacity of 50 kilowatts (kW) to one MW and micro-cogeneration plants with a capacity of up to 50 kW).
This means that cogeneration plants will contribute to more efficient use of primary energy, which, in turn, will reduce fuel consumption and the release of carbon emissions.
An “exceptional advantage” of high-efficiency cogeneration is the possibility of decentralising electricity generation, which is necessary amid terrorist attacks from Russia, the EUEA said.
SAEE (State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine) will carry out the qualification of high-efficiency cogeneration and the issuance of guarantees of origin, according to the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine
In the EU, heat reuse provides 12 per cent of electricity and 16 per cent of thermal energy used in homes, industry and district heating. This saves an equivalent of around 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of energy per year, of which 15 bcm are direct natural gas savings.
