You're reading: The Reforms Guide: Expert says hitting 2020 goal for gas production will be ‘difficult’

Editor’s Note: The following interview with energy expert Olena Pavlenko, president of the DiXi Group analytical center, was published on March 21 by The Reforms Guide, a Finnish government-funded information and analytical project that tracks progress in 17 reforms under way in Ukraine. It is implemented by Internews Ukraine.

The following is a key excerpt of the interview, which can be read in its entirety  here:

Questions: Is it possible to achieve energy independence in the present situation? What steps should be taken?

Olena Pavlenko: Ukraine has an excellent base to develop an independent power industry. First, it is natural gas production. According to studies, the country is able to increase the production of its own gas. Probably, it will be difficult to get 27 cubic meters of gas by 2020, as the government plans, but it is possible to create favorable conditions for speeding up the pace of extraction in two or three years and achieve this result in five or six years. And implementing energy efficiency projects, we will be able to achieve such level of energy efficiency that we won’t need the imported gas. But we should work with investors, not only inviting them actively but creating favorable conditions to compete with other countries. As of today, foreign investors believe that there are many political risks in Ukraine.

Second, the renewable energy sector is developing in Ukraine as well. According to the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association data, electricity generation from renewable sources increased by 11.5% in 2016. Foreign investors are very interested in such projects in Ukraine. Thus, it is very important to keep the regulation in this sector as transparent, clear and unchanged as possible, because investors usually plan their activity for decades ahead, and they should understand what to expect from the state policy. With the reduce of technology costs, more and more households will be interested in the transition to their own sources of power generation (solar panels or wind turbines). It is also very important to resolve the “rules of the game” and to simplify licensing procedures as much as possible.

Third, the reduce of energy consumption in Ukraine will be a major step to achieve energy independence. It isn’t a secret that we have great opportunities to reduce energy consumption in the residential sector (through insulation, installation of meters, transition to more efficient technologies). Industry sector has the similar objectives as well.

Actually, these things are discussed for a long time in Ukraine, and there is no exclusive or unique recipe. The main thing is to move from words to real changes.