Chief of Department for devising project funding mechanisms of Pro-Consulting took part in the press-club "Solar Energy for agriculture in Ukraine. First Steps"

Press Club was held under support of UNIDO Project - GEF project "Improving energy efficiency and promote the use of renewable energy in the agro-food and other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine" by KPMG in Ukraine, the ICO "Information center "Green Dossier".

The event is a part of the European Week of Sustainable Energy, which is carried out within the framework of the campaign "European Solar Days in Ukraine." The main topic of the press club was the prospect of solar energy use in agriculture and agro-processing industry of Ukraine.

Panelists - representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine, representatives of the regions, where the projects were implemented in the field of solar energy - identified a number of problems that postpone the rapid development of this area of alternative energy sources:

• The slow development and implementation of legislation, devised according to European legislation. The Energy Strategy of Ukraine must be updated and approved soon. The rate of adoption of regulations and the development of energy efficiency in general is an impact, according to experts, frequent changes in energy prices.

• Limited preferential policy. Representatives of KPMG in Ukraine indicate that the substantial tax benefits apply only to large companies that generate electricity for sale. In this case, households and small businesses that want to build power plants and other facilities for their personal needs, get lack of support.

• Inaccurate determining of the "green tariff", which greatly hinders the investment in this promising sector.

• Environmental hazards in the implementation of renewable energy projects, when it comes to the construction of small hydropower plants in Carpathians, the cultivation of rapeseed and other things.

"Nowadays, in Ukraine the use of green tariff costs 4-6 times more than the cost of conventional energy resources. But, according to representatives of the National Commission, which regulates the energy sector, the prices for renewable energy in developed countries is gradually reducing, so it should be used in Ukraine", - said Irina Pereli.