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In brief: Pier Carlo Sandei, Head of UNEP in Kyiv, explains why Odesa was selected, what its solar potential could mean for other Ukrainian cities, and how Italian support can help turn initial assessments into lasting investment.
Odesa has been chosen as a testing ground for an important United Nations initiative to advance energy innovation in Ukraine. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and financed by Italy, the new Pilot Decarbonization Office in Odesa explores how solar power and decentralized electricity generation can help cities withstand Russian attacks on energy infrastructure while laying the foundations for a greener recovery.
The choice also reflects the Italian government’s focus on Odesa and its region as a priority for assistance to Ukraine. Alongside support for cultural heritage and the restoration of buildings, energy resilience provides an essential foundation for the city’s recovery: reliable electricity keeps hospitals, schools, businesses and public services running.
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Kyiv Post: UNEP presented the results of the Italian-funded project on green and resilient energy in Odesa. What problem was it designed to solve?
Pier Carlo Sandei: The problem was created by the war, and this was since the very beginning of the war. Energy infrastructures were a target by the Russian Federation’s attacks. We had to solve short-term problems, but also long-term problems. You need to find quick solutions for the immediate and humanitarian needs, but you also need to have a rethinking of the energy mix of Ukraine for a full EU accession. So, the project was aiming at addressing both aspects.
The question was: What can we do quickly and what can the project unlock quickly as resources for energy crisis solution? And on the other side: How can we start looking not only at today and tomorrow, but also to next year, to the next 10 years?
So the project had both dimensions. And this is what we are trying to do with different components of the project, working on short term and long term. An example of short term in Odesa is the solar city simulator, because it tells you today where to install solar panels on every roof. And this is something that can be done in one week. I mean, if you have the money tomorrow, you can install the solar panels and be independent. This is a quick solution.
On the other side you can have a long-term solution, which is, for example, what we are doing in Odesa, as well, with this 30-megawatt solar power plant. It will take more time, but will also have a longer-term impact on the overall energy balance of the region and in Ukraine.
What are the most important lessons learned from the assessment work presented in the Odesa Regional Recovery Forum?
As refers to the Odesa components of the project, the first thing is that with only 5% of the roofs covered with solar panels, you can get 25% of the energy needs of the city. So, there’s enough sun and there are enough roofs to have enough electricity and a diversified and diffused energy distribution.
I’m not saying that the Russian Federation will not hit the roofs with salt water, but the damage would be much less than if it were a centralized power. These are the lessons learned, where decentralization is important to make sure that we can get resilience.
The second thing is that we have so far relied a lot on gas turbines and diesel generators, but these have, in the long term, a negative impact on the energy mix of the country, as well as on the environment and the economy, because diesel generators, with the price of diesel today, is becoming very expensive source of energy. With solar panels, you do the investment only once and then they keep on giving you free energy the rest of the time.
And again, these are a positive contribution to the future of Ukraine, while diesel generation and gas turbines are a negative addition to the future energy mix of Ukraine, because they will be still relying on fossil fuels and not going into right direction for the EU.
The audience in Odesa was impressed that their city will host such a pilot project, because it is very rarely chosen for this purpose. Why this decision and what can Odesa teach to other cities, like Kharkiv or Mykolaiv, involved in the project?
There are two aspects. First of all, there is a logistical issue. Odesa has a lot of sun, similar to Mykolaiv. There’s less sun in Kyiv, Rivne or Kharkiv. So, it’s easier to sell solar panels in Odesa than in the north of Ukraine, even though it is meaningful there, too.
The second thing: in Odesa we found a very proactive and responsive administration that has embarked on this project with enthusiasm. So this made it easier to work with Odesa than other parts of Ukraine.
Thirdly, of course, the Italian funding, with a special patronage of Italy for Odesa, allowed it to welcome the project.
Odesa’s energy infrastructure is regularly targeted by Russian attacks. How do you design solar, storage and backup power systems that can withstand this risk?
Well, this is the solar city simulator. You want to have a diffuse and decentralized production. So the worst case scenario is that they damage 50 solar panels, which means that the value of the drone is higher than the damage that they can make on the other side.
For this reason, you don’t want to have the 30-megawatt plant built now until it is also properly defended or until the situation changes in terms of safety. Because such a big power plant is easier target to shell. And at that point the damage would be bigger than the value of the attacks. So, it is exactly the right response to this risk.
Any international project has to pass through an assessment on corruption risks. How is this project protected with regard to corruption?
First of all, the project is managed by the UN and we have very strong safeguards and anti-corruption mechanisms. So, we are not working with financial transactions through local authorities. We work with other partners on the other side that we can control. I don’t think corruption should scare us from investing. It should force a stronger rule of law. If there is corruption, it doesn’t mean you should not do business in Ukraine.
And this is what we are doing in this project. We cannot run away because of corruption. We should fight corruption. And you should fight corruption not only by having safeguard mechanisms, but also by showing integrity, leading by example.
What about the rooftop solar assessment developed by the IRENA Solar City Simulator? How much rooftop potential did you find in Ukrainian cities? And which building types are the targets: municipal buildings, residential or commercial?
We cover the whole northern part of Odesa. So, it’s not a cherry-picking roof by roof. But we did the assessment for all the roofs of the city. Now we can tell you which ones are more productive and which are less productive. And the reason is also due to the shade, because if you have a high building next to you and you are in the shade, this building will produce less.
The analysis done on the whole territory of the city and it doesn’t distinguish between public or private or whatever. So you can go and check your own building and see how much electricity you can produce.
How does the clearing house mechanism works in practical terms, what problem does it solve for cities and investors?
When we started looking at energy projects, we saw that part of them are going to the Minister of Energy, parts of the project are going to the Minister of Territorial Community.
Some projects are going to the Minister of Environment because they are climate friendly. Others are going to the Ministry of Development. So, there is no single repository of all the energy projects happening in Ukraine.
So, if tomorrow a donor comes and says, I want to finance projects on energy, they would not be able to have one answer. They would need to go to five different ministers and sometimes even to the different oblasts. And this because of some legal obligations.
The law says that big energy projects are managed by the Minister of Energy. Small energy projects instead are dealt by the Ministry of Territorial Communities and the Minister of Development. Some are private investments, so they are not even fitting into that. Therefore, it’s difficult to facilitate the match between offer and demand, or needs and offer.
The idea would be if tomorrow somebody needs to say, okay, give me all the projects down below 10 megawatts, you would be able to have that. At the same time, if there is somebody who says, I’m willing to install solar panels, tell me where to go, they would be able to find out. At the moment, this is not happening.
The clearinghouse is about having one place where you know, what are all the possibilities are, and, on the other side, what the demand and needs are, so that it’s easier to match the two.
Italy financed this stage. What comes next? Who will pay for the implementation? Other donors, private capital or again the Italians?
Let’s say donation is including everything. Of course, we would need more funding. The AICS (Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development) is providing the finance, but also the political oversight from a G7 country. This also fits into the G7-plus initiative in support of energy for Ukraine.
We hope to show results in the short term, especially with private sector investments and Ukrainian investments, because there are resources in Ukraine for this. So it’s not only to wait for donors, but sometimes you need a small snowflake to start an avalanche.
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