How can a municipal energy plan be translated into concrete projects, and how can funding be secured? These questions were at the heart of a study visit to Denmark by representatives from the Ukrainian municipalities of Yasinia, Novoselytsia and Dolyna on 21–25 September 2026.
The visit was part of the third phase of the municipalities’ cooperation with Guldborgsund Municipality, which grew out of the twinning programme under U-LEAD with Europe, and is currently funded by the Ukraine-Danmark Twinning Programme. Guldborgsund Municipality is the Danish municipal partner and leads the project. This phase focuses on municipal energy planning and financing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
The programme combined presentations, exchanges of experience and workshops based on the municipalities’ own energy plans and project ideas.
From prioritisation to funding applications
A central part of the programme focused on identifying and prioritising energy projects based on their costs and expected impact. Ea presented a guide to municipal energy planning that follows the Ukrainian methodology and supports the process from baseline assessments and target setting to implementation and monitoring.
Financing was the second main theme. Working with one selected project from each municipality, participants had time to develop draft funding applications and compile the information typically required by funding providers: the technical solution, investment needs, energy savings, operating costs and revenues, timeline and risks.
Bo Eske Nyhus from Nefco shared perspectives on financing municipal energy projects in Ukraine. The programme also included technical presentations, including one by Sergii Umanets from Navitas Renewables on wind project development in Ukraine, as well as contributions from the Danish Energy Agency on the Danish–Ukrainian Energy Partnership and planning for wind and solar energy in Denmark.
