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On Tuesday, February 10, the Verkhovna Rada adopted, in the second reading and as a whole, draft law No. 13219 aimed at improving the mechanism of green auctions. The bill was supported by 247 MPs, exceeding the minimum required 226 votes.

The amendments were introduced after pilot auctions held in 2024 demonstrated weak investor interest.

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Originally, three pilot auctions were planned to allocate 110 MW of support quotas, including 11 MW for solar power plants, 88 MW for wind farms, and 11 MW for other renewable sources such as biomass, biogas, and small hydropower. Of the three auctions, two failed to take place, while one was held only partially.

Under the new law, the auction mechanism will be extended for five years — until December 31, 2034, instead of January 1, 2030. At the same time, the existing Contract for Difference (CfD) model will be replaced with a Feed-in Premium mechanism.

The key flaw of the previous model was that when producers sold electricity at a price higher than the base price, they were required to immediately transfer the difference to the state-owned enterprise Guaranteed Buyer. If the electricity was sold at a lower price, the state was supposed to compensate the difference. In practice, however, while payments from producers were received promptly, state compensation was often delayed for months or even years due to accumulated debts, creating additional inflationary and currency risks.

As a result of this imbalance, investors were reluctant to enter such projects. The revised model changes the approach: producers will sell electricity directly on the market rather than through the Guaranteed Buyer, while the state will provide additional payments only when market prices fall below the auction price.

  • The purpose of green auctions is to attract investment in the construction of new renewable energy generation capacity.
  • According to Andriy Gerus, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada’s Energy Committee, the new support model could become an additional incentive for building new generation facilities in Ukraine’s energy-deficient left-bank regions.