Energy

Renewable energy’s attractiveness

The focus on energy diversification and increasing competitive pressure on both governments and investors is driving the attractiveness of renewable energy and bringing new investment destinations to the fore, according to EY’s latest Renewable energy country attractiveness index.

The report highlights India and Sub-Saharan Africa as key examples of markets attracting increasing foreign interest and creating new competition for traditional investment destinations.

The latest index saw India climb to fifth place, reflecting the significant investment and project momentum resulting from the government’s ambitious renewables targets and policy reforms to improve the investment climate.

Due to the difficult macroeconomic situation and the uncertainty with the “green tariff” Ukraine was pushed out of the top 40 countries with developing economies, which over the past six months have introduced advanced tools to support the renewable energy sector.

But CIS countries still hold low positions in the ranking. For example, Russia is 40th among the 40 countries covered by the ranking. However, renewable energy remains a promising sphere for development in coming years. According to Russia’s Energy Strategy for the period up to 2030, renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of 25 GW will be put into operation and the share of electricity generated from renewable energy sources will increase to 4.5% of the total power balance. To achieve these objectives, a placement scheme of electric power facilities based on renewable energy sources will be developed and updated regularly. Also, it will be necessary to create favorable conditions to attract investment in relevant projects. In addition to the above, rising interest in the development of renewable energy capacities and the establishment of an appropriate legal and regulatory environment is being seen in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. 

Energoatom takes step to further Ukraine’s energy independence

A contract on the supply of enriched uranium between the French company AREVA and the Ukrainian enterprise SE NNEGC Energoatom was signed on 24 April 2015 in the representative office of SE NNEGC Energoatom in Brussels. The contract was signed by Yuriy Nedashkovsky, president of Energoatom, and Olivier Wantz, senior executive vice president, AREVA Mining & Front End, one of the world leaders in the field of nuclear technologies. The deal represents a further concrete step towards the energy independence of Ukraine in line with Energoatom’s consistent strategy to diversify its supply chain. The contract is a step towards diversifying the supply of nuclear materials to Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plants.