According to the Energy Balance of Ukraine, the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the total primary energy supply in 2017 amounted to 4.4% (in 2016 it was 3.8%). The growth rate of the share of renewable energy sources in Ukraine corresponds to the European indicators of annual growth of the RES sector. The leader in the structure of RES has been the bioenergy sector (the indicator “biofuels and waste” in the Energy Balance), occupying 80% in the production of energy from RES.
In 2017 the volume of the “production of biofuels and waste” amounted to 3618 ktoe (against 3348 ktoe in 2016), and the volume of the “total supply of primary energy from biofuels and waste” was 3046 ktoe in 2017 (against 2832 ktoe in 2016) (Fig. 1). The difference between the indicators corresponds to exports of biofuels, which came to 542 ktoe in 2017 (554 ktoe in 2016).
Figure 1. The growth of energy production from biofuels in Ukraine in 2010-2017
Supply of primary energy from biofuels and waste in the amount of 3046 ktoe is equivalent to replacing about 3.8 billion m3 of natural gas in 2017.
Analysis of similar data for the period of 2010-2017 shows that the average growth rate of the bioenergy sector in Ukraine is 43% per year by the indicator of the “production of biofuels and waste” and 33% per year by the indicator of the “total supply of primary energy from biofuels and waste”(Fig. 2). Such growth rates indicate a high probability of fulfilling the targets for the production of heat from biomass stated in the National Renewable Energy Action Plan until 2020 (NREAP).
Figure 2. The growth of energy production from biofuels in Ukraine in 2010-2017, the indicative targets of the NREAP for the production of heat energy from biomass and the forecast until 2020.