A group of People’s Deputies presented a draft law for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada, which provides for amendments to the current laws of Ukraine for the integration of the electricity markets of Ukraine and the European Union. This document, registered under №12087, aimed at the further integration of the Ukrainian energy system into the European energy space.
One of the key provisions of the draft law is that the decisions of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) will be binding for the Ukrainian national regulator NERCP and all participants in the energy market of Ukraine. This will effectively combine the legal and regulatory mechanisms of the two markets, simplifying management procedures and ensuring compliance with EU standards.
The draft law also defines the basic conditions for the functioning of the day-ahead (DAF) and intraday markets (IDM). It establishes the rights and obligations of the nominated market operator, the main functions of the central counterparty and the trading agent, which will contribute to the stable functioning of the market in the conditions of integration with the EU.
Special attention is paid to issues of interstate balancing, cross-border exchange of electricity and joint use of power reserves to maintain frequency stability in the power system. This will contribute to increasing the energy security and flexibility of both markets.
In addition, an important innovation is the introduction of the concept of “energy poverty”. The draft law provides for the protection of vulnerable consumers of energy resources through social policy and state regulation of prices. However, such intervention should be temporary, transparent and non-discriminatory, and should not create additional financial burdens on market participants. The Government of Ukraine is obliged to inform the Energy Community about the need for such measures, explaining their impact on competition and the justification of regulation.
Also, the draft law requires the Cabinet of Ministers to clearly define special duties for market participants, which should be transparent, temporary and ensure equal access for all electric power companies of the Energy Community member states to consumers.
We will remind that in 2023 JSC “Market Operator” announced the development of a draft law aimed at integrating the energy markets of Ukraine and the EU. The document also regulates dispatch management within the SOR (operational control region) and CCR (region including trade zones of neighboring countries for calculation of maximum electricity export/import).
In September 2023, the draft law was submitted to the Secretariat of the Energy Community for further processing and approval.
