Pro-Energy took part in the business workshop “Decentralised Bioenergy as a Business Opportunity” at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute

Decentralised bioenergy for Ukraine is no longer a question of technological feasibility. Ukraine has the raw materials, the specialists, the experience in implementing biogas projects, and significant potential for the development of biomethane. The key question today is how to turn this potential into investment-worthy projects.

This was the topic discussed during the business workshop “Decentralised Bioenergy as a Business Opportunity”, held at the Ihor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute as part of the “Ukraine Energy Autark” project, with support from BMZ/GIZ.

The Pro-Energy team took part in the event to share their practical experience of developing the biogas sector in Ukraine and to highlight the opportunities that decentralised bioenergy offers to businesses.

Why did Pro-Energy take part in the event?

Education is one of the areas in which Pro-Energy is systematically involved. The company is keen to ensure that students studying technical subjects view bioenergy as a viable career path.

This is particularly important for the Ihor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Around 80 per cent of Pro-Energy’s staff are graduates of this university.

The organisers also ran a webinar specifically aimed at students. Pro-Energy offered to share its practical experience of working on biogas projects in Ukraine. As a result, Malvina Shynkarchuk, representing Pro-Energy, joined the business section of the workshop and took part in a discussion on the potential for developing decentralised bioenergy.

For us, this is an important distinction, as Ukrainian students today can study more than just what might potentially appear on the market in a few years’ time. Some of the technologies discussed in international projects are already being implemented at Ukrainian enterprises.

What was discussed at the business workshop

The programme for the event covered several areas. Representatives from KPI spoke about the university’s work as part of “Ukraine Energy Autark” — a joint project involving German partners, the university and GIZ.

A separate section was devoted to the potential for implementing biogas technologies in business and to a new German technological solution.

Pro-Energy presented a practical overview of the state of the Ukrainian market for biogas and biomethane: what resources are already available, what is holding back the implementation of new projects, and why decentralised generation is becoming an important part of companies’ energy strategies.

This practical context was also important for the very concept of the project. After all, Ukraine needs people who can design, launch and maintain such projects.

Ukraine has the potential to develop biogas. The problem lies in investment

According to estimates presented during the event, Ukraine has the potential to produce over 20 billion m³ of biomethane per year.

The raw material base for this already exists. This includes livestock waste, crop residues, and by-products from the food and processing industries. There is also the technological infrastructure and Ukrainian experience in implementing biogas projects. Therefore, the main constraint on the sector’s development today is not a lack of technology.

The key issue is the projects’ investment viability.

In a climate of military risk, even a technically sound project may remain at the design stage if the investor does not have access to sufficient funding and risk insurance mechanisms.

The following factors remain important for the sector’s growth:

• insurance against war risks;
• loan guarantees;
• international financial support;
• financial instruments available for energy projects.

It is precisely these factors that will largely determine how many new biogas and biomethane facilities will be built in Ukraine.

Container laboratory: from theory to working with real technology

Another outcome of the project, which is particularly important for the educational aspect, is the handover of a modular container-based laboratory to the KPI.

For students, this is an opportunity to work with technology in conditions that closely resemble those of a real production environment.

It is precisely this kind of practical experience that is often lacking in the training of future engineers. They may understand how the equipment works, but they may not have the opportunity to see how technological processes operate in real-world industrial settings.

The modular laboratory will help to bridge this gap.

Interestingly, the very concept of the laboratory is in line with the idea of decentralised energy: the container-based solution is fitted with solar panels and can operate independently of the external electricity grid.

For Pro-Energy, this is a good example of how educational infrastructure can simultaneously demonstrate the principles of energy efficiency in practice.

For which businesses does decentralised bioenergy make the most sense?

Decentralised bioenergy is most relevant for businesses that have all three of the following resources: organic raw materials, stable energy consumption, and the ability to integrate the energy they generate into their own infrastructure.

First and foremost, these are:

• agricultural enterprises;
• livestock farms;
• food industry enterprises;
• processing companies;
• businesses with significant volumes of organic by-products.

A biogas plant based on this model makes it possible to convert waste into several products simultaneously: electricity, heat, biomethane, organic fertilisers and biogenic CO₂.

The economy starts with raw materials

When assessing a biogas project, it is not possible to start simply by choosing the equipment.

The economy is determined by the entire system: the availability of raw materials, their volume and quality, logistics, the capacity of the future plant, the energy consumption model, and the client’s readiness to implement the project.

This is particularly important for small biogas plants.

For a small business, the mere presence of organic waste may not be enough to make the construction of a dedicated plant economically viable. 

It is precisely here that international technological and financial cooperation can open up further opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Why does Pro-Energy continue to work with students?

For Pro-Energy, taking part in this workshop was not aimed at finding new clients or securing contracts. The main objective was to raise awareness.

As recently as 15 years ago, Ukrainian students often studied biogas technologies that were mainly available abroad. Today, the situation has changed: biogas and biomethane technologies are now available in Ukraine, real-world projects are being implemented, and Ukrainian specialists have practical experience of putting them into practice.

The task now is to pass on this experience to the next generation of engineers. That is why Pro-Energy takes on students from various years for work placements and continues to get involved in educational initiatives.

Decentralised energy requires not only technology, but also people

The “Decentralised Bioenergy as a Business Opportunity” business workshop demonstrated one simple fact: the foundations for the development of the Ukrainian bioenergy sector are already in place.

We have the raw materials. We have the technology. We have experience in implementing projects. There is a potential market for biomethane in Europe.

What is needed now are the conditions under which this potential can be scaled up: funding, insurance against military risks, international support and trained specialists.

It is precisely this last point that is often left out of the debate on energy. But without engineers, technologists, designers and operational staff, even the best technology will not work.

That is why, for Pro-Energy, the development of decentralised energy is also about the people who will build and maintain these systems.

This is where collaboration between businesses, universities and international educational projects is of practical importance.

Ukraine needs a decentralised energy sector. This means it also needs specialists who can develop it.

Would you like to develop your career in the renewable energy sector?

If you have experience in the renewable energy sector and would like to develop your expertise in bioenergy, we’d be delighted to meet you.

We’d love to invite you to an interview at Pro-Energy. We’ll tell you more about the team, our projects, and career opportunities.