The decentralization of electricity amid energy crisis
During the russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many awful things happened. Where they can, russians organize genocide of Ukrainians, which happened in Irpin, Bucha, Mariupol, Izium, and other places. Ukrainian victories on the battlefield only increase the hatred and cruelty of russians army, and they target more and more civilian objects.
Photo was taken by me on October 12, 2022. In this skyscraper, I used to visit the Sportlife swimming pool on the 5 floor. What I liked is that it was easy to drive inside the skyscraper by car on the 6th floor of the parking.
But the rockets and Shahed drones, supplied by Iran are limited. That’s why recently russians decided to focus on the attacks on energy objects. Several thermal power stations were hit, and some cities and parts of the cities have problems with electricity and water supply. We can say this caused the energy crisis, Ukraine stopped exporting electricity. russians still occupy Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world.
Fortunately, recent russian attacks didn’t cause panic. There were light elements of it, which you could see in the queues at gas station and shops, but that’s because the majority of stations and shops don’t work during the air alarm. We will survive this crisis as we survived the fuel crisis this spring. What can be repaired, will be repaired, markets, businesses, and people will adapt.
That become the rule for Ukrainians, to have a telephone charged, and to have powerbank charged and now we have to save electricity as much as we can, especially during the evenings, during the peak hours.
But what would be one more important step — is to achieve the bigger decentralization of electricity production. The easiest way which seems to me is by using more solar energy and installing more solar batteries.
I used to travel in Ukraine a lot by car and many times saw solar panels on houses and small businesses all around Ukraine. Still, this number statistically speaking and it might grow. Now, in addition to energy efficiency reasons, cost-saving, and ecological reasons — there is one more reason — to lower the pressure on centralized energy systems.
The households which will be able to sustain their own electricity usage will achieve real energy independence, others that let’s imagine will have more solar panels, and will be able to sell electricity to their neighbors or to the state energy pools.
Such Solarization of Ukraine will really help to overcome the energy crisis faster and will help Ukraine. But where the money for new solar panels can come from? I think it might come from the non-military aid that other countries and organizations are providing, but also via different credit and loan programs.
Actually, the whole new solar industry can have economical development, as we might include R&D, and the production of solar panels in Ukraine (i.e. in the western or central regions where the possibility of drone strikes is much lower), education about solar energy setup and usage, etc.
Because I’m writing this article for my crypto-blogs, I will add that I see the additional way of crypto-crowdfunding or providing particular target loans or donations to particular households, businesses, or individuals. There are many crypto-startups in the area of ecology, and carbon aspects, so I see here the new opportunities which will have a certain particular use-case and market, which later can be expanded to other geographies.
In addition to the economical aspect, having a decentralized system of electricity can even save lives. russians can’t bomb each and every building, they don’t have enough rockets and drones to do so. This war is a war of technology and resources. If it will last a long time — we need to be prepared and efficient, and the energy area is basic and very important.
