On 28 October 2021, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Denmark Mykhailo Vydoinyk and Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, Director General for EU and International Climate and Energy Christian Stenberg discussed the current status state and prospects of energy cooperation between Ukraine and Denmark.

The Ambassador announced the ambitious goals of the Government of Ukraine to reduce by 2030 greenhouse gas emissions by 65% from 1990 levels and called on leading Danish companies to take an active part in the green transformation of Ukraine.

Such indicators are to be achieved by gradually phasing out traditional energy sources and switching to renewables, in particular to wind and solar electricity production. This, in turn, involves the construction of onshore and offshore wind farms and biomass power generating facilities, production of “green” hydrogen and biogas, including from livestock and agricultural waste, balancing Ukrainian energy networks, improving the energy efficiency of buildings and modernization district heating systems in Ukrainian cities.

The interlocutors paid special attention to the significant increase in gas prices in the European and international markets as well as to the launch of the “Nord Stream 2” gas pipeline. According to Christian Stenberg, Denmark is convinced that NS2 should be covered by all the requirements of the EU’s Third Energy Package, and the German regulator has an obligation to apply them to this pipeline. In turn, Denmark sees that reduction in Europe’s energy dependence on Russian gas supply may be achieved by the transition to renewable energy sources and the introduction of new technologies in the field of energy efficiency.

In the context of discussing the existing issues of Ukrainian-Danish cooperation in the field of green energy, Christian Stenberg welcomed the steps taken by the Government of Ukraine to repay existing debts to energy companies under the “green tariff” and its intention to introduce a so-called “feed-in-premium” model.

The parties agreed to continue intergovernmental cooperation within the framework of the Ukrainian-Danish Energy Partnership Program for 2021-2026. It is expected that the first meeting of the Supervisory Committee will take place in November 2021 in Kyiv, where both countries will approve specific work plans for the near future.