THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW ELECTRICITY MARKET. SO FAR SO GOOD.

PHOTO: Slovo i Dilo

The first 24 hours of the new model of the electricity market has come to an end. One can say that the transition process has been as smooth as possible in the context of haste during preparation and the existence of certain unresolved problems. The main displeasing matter is the “crash” of the system of the intraday market just a few hours before July 1.

As a result of the bidding process on the “day-ahead electricity market”, the average price in the Integrated Power System was 1.59 UAH/kWh, which is still below the state limit of 1.64 UAH/kWh. That is, there was no hike of the wholesale price during the transition to market pricing.

At the same time, it is a mistake to believe that non-implementation of reforms will hold down prices. Even without reforms, we forecast that prices would have risen within the range of 6-10% in some years up to 2030. However, the biggest problem is that without reform, there would be continuation of the deterioration and decommissioning of electricity-generating equipment and subsequently the transformation of Ukraine into the net importer of electricity.

Andrian Prokip, the expert of the programme “Energy” of the UIF