Green Light for Renewables: What the RED III Implementation Law Changes for Investors

Published on Oct 1, 2026

On 2 September 2026 the Parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Implementation of European Union Legislation in the Field of Renewable Energy Sources” No. 4963-IX (the "RES Amendments Law”), and the President signed it on 25 September 2026. The Law is based on Draft Law No. 14271 dated 3 December 2025. It will enter into force on the day following its publication, except for certain provisions that take effect at a later date.

The RES Amendments Law implements the provisions of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (as amended) ("RED III”). The Directive governs the use of renewable energy sources ("RES”) in the electricity sector, heating and cooling, and the fuel sector.

The key provisions of the RES Amendments Law are summarised below.

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Purpose and terminology: the amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Alternative Fuels” are intended to increase the share of alternative fuels in final energy consumption and align the law’s terminology with that of the RED III Directive.

Scope of sustainability requirements: the "sustainability criteria” have been extended to biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels regardless of their end use. Such fuels must comply with the sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions saving criteria, and their producers and sellers are required to demonstrate such compliance.

Compliance procedure: the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is to approve the sustainability criteria and the rules for demonstrating compliance with them. The RES Amendments Law also regulates in greater detail the application of voluntary certification schemes recognised by the European Commission, which may be used to demonstrate compliance with the sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions saving criteria.

Reporting:
  • from 2027, biofuel (bio-component) producers and sellers must annually submit information on the proofs of sustainability they have issued;
  • from 2028, fuel producers, wholesalers and importers must annually submit information on the biofuel (bio-component) content of the fuel they place on the market and its compliance with the sustainability criteria, based on copies of certificates of conformity and proofs of sustainability.
The State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine has been designated as the administrator of this information. It will verify provided information against data from the tax and customs authorities. The verification procedure shall be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Requirements for biomethane guarantees of origin: such guarantees will be issued with a standard size of 1 MWh.

ENERGY

Terminology: the RES Amendments Law introduces new terms and concepts and clarifies existing ones in line with RED III, including:
  • a "renewable energy facility” is defined as a set of interconnected equipment and structures designed to produce energy from renewable sources;
  • "gross final consumption of energy” is defined as the amount of energy supplied to consumers, and the rules for calculating this indicator have been established;
  • a "renewable energy project developer” is a person or an association of persons intending to implement respective project (e.g. active consumers, renewable energy communities and energy cooperatives);
  • "peer-to-peer trading of renewable electricity” is defined as the sale by a consumer of self-generated renewable electricity to other market participants under an agreement, which may be concluded either directly or through an aggregator;
  • a new type of RES support has been introduced, namely the renewable energy obligation, which requires producers, suppliers or consumers to ensure a minimum share of renewable energy in their production, supply or consumption and may be fulfilled through the guarantees of origin mechanism.
Information support and professional training programmes: the RES Amendments Law provides for the following areas of developing professional skills in the RES sector:
  • information: the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine (the "Ministry of Energy”) is to ensure public access to up-to-date information on state support mechanisms, incentive schemes and practical opportunities for using renewable energy, and to introduce a manual of procedures setting out the permitting, environmental, urban planning and energy requirements for implementing RES projects;
  • training, awareness-raising and career guidance programmes: these are to be developed with the participation of central and local authorities to help consumers understand their rights and the conditions for implementing RES projects.
Support schemes: the RES Amendments Law comprehensively regulates state support for renewable energy and defines a "support scheme” as a tool promoting the use of renewable energy by reducing its cost, increasing its selling price or increasing the volume of such energy purchased. These include investment aid, renewable energy obligations, feed-in tariffs and market premiums.

The main focus is on integrating RES into the market, minimising market distortions, and taking into account the impact of support on consumers, investment, and the stability of the power system.

Effectiveness of support schemes shall be assessed every five years. Ukraine shall have an opportunity to establish joint support schemes with EU Member States and Contracting Parties to the Energy Community, which will facilitate Ukraine’s integration into the European energy market.

Renewable energy communities: these are defined as a distinct form of participation by citizens, small and medium-sized enterprises and local authorities in the development of renewable energy. They are voluntary associations established to serve the economic, environmental and social interests of their participants and local communities. They operate on a not-for-profit basis, and are entitled to produce, consume, sell, aggregate and store renewable energy.

Participation in a community does not restrict or alter its members’ rights and obligations as household or active consumers.

The RES Amendments Law specifically guarantees communities non-discriminatory access to energy markets and the right to supply their members with energy produced by the community’s generating units.

Communities are also entitled to act as renewable energy project developers and to participate in renewable energy auctions.

Renewables acceleration areas: these are defined as areas particularly suitable for the construction of renewable energy facilities. They are approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and are intended to help Ukraine meet its national RES targets in a planned and predictable way.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine establishes the procedure for developing the plan (planning scheme) for such areas and approves the plans developed by the Ministry of Energy with the involvement of the environmental protection and urban planning authorities.

The plan (planning scheme) identifies the available areas where the deployment of renewable energy facilities will not have a significant environmental impact, sets out the conditions and restrictions for the use of renewables acceleration areas, and establishes the fundamental decisions on their planning, development and use.

Plans designating renewables acceleration areas are subject to strategic environmental assessment, periodic review and publication on the Ministry of Energy’s website.

Zoning plans, as a type of urban planning documentation, will take into account the renewables acceleration areas designated in the relevant plan (planning scheme).

The RES Amendments Law provides for a mechanism for mapping areas suitable for RES development, to be implemented by the Ministry of Energy together with the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre, in order to identify available areas for the installation of renewable energy facilities and energy storage systems, as well as related infrastructure.

Renewable energy projects: the RES Amendments Law simplifies and standardises the procedures for implementing RES projects by establishing clear deadlines, an electronic format for procedures and special rules depending on the type and location of the project:
  • uniform deadlines: the competent authority must take a decision on permits, approvals, grid connection and technical conditions within 30 days for projects in renewables acceleration areas and within 45 days for projects outside such areas; time limit starts from the date the application is received;
  • overall duration of procedures: up to 12 months in renewables acceleration areas and up to 24 months outside them; for offshore wind projects, up to 24 and 36 months, respectively. These deadlines may be extended in the event of force majeure;
  • simplified procedures: shorter deadlines apply to the reconstruction and technical upgrading of facilities with a capacity of up to 150 kW, namely up to six months in renewables acceleration areas and up to 12 months outside them. If the technical upgrading does not increase capacity by more than 15% and does not require an environmental impact assessment, the overall duration of the procedures is up to three months;
  • electronic procedures: interaction within the permitting procedures for the construction, grid connection and commissioning of a facility is carried out electronically through contact points, namely the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services (Diia) or the Unified State Electronic System in the Field of Construction;
  • precondition for launching the procedure: before initiating the permitting procedures for the construction of a project, the developer must secure rights to the land plot or the relevant building/structure;
  • heat pumps: the overall duration of all permitting procedures for the construction of renewable energy facilities involving the installation of heat pumps with a capacity of up to 50 MW may not exceed 30 days, and 90 days for geothermal heat pumps, except where legislation sets special requirements relating to the protection of cultural/historical heritage, national security, defence or public safety;
  • solar projects: the overall duration of all permitting procedures for the construction of solar facilities may not exceed three months, and 30 days for facilities with a capacity of up to 100 kW, subject to the same exceptions under special legislation as apply to heat pump facilities.
OTHER KEY CHANGES
  • emergency repairs of generating facilities that do not increase their capacity will not affect the feed-in tariff terms applicable to them, while if capacity is increased, the feed-in tariff will be revised in line with the tariff level requirements in effect on the date of the facility’s commissioning following the emergency repairs. Where capacity has been increased, the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission must be notified of the repairs within ten days of their completion;
  • the transmission system operator and distribution system operators are required to publish information on the share of electricity generated from RES and the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of electricity within the bidding zone or the relevant operator’s area of operation. This provision will take effect 12 months after martial law is terminated or lifted;
  • the calculation of the connection fee for energy storage systems: double-counting of the same cost of the system operator to enable an energy storage system to both withdraw and inject electricity through a single connection point is excluded;
  • land plots under shelterbelts may now be used for the construction, maintenance and operation of underground power cable lines;
  • the RES Amendments Law establishes the conditions for cooperation with other countries on joint RES projects, the procedure for counting the renewable energy produced towards national targets, the requirements for informing the Energy Community Secretariat and the rules for allocating energy volumes between states;
  • the possibility of developing detailed spatial plans for energy facilities has been extended until 1 January 2030 where a community has not yet adopted a comprehensive spatial development plan. District/oblast planning schemes will only need to be taken into account where they exist, eliminating the project’s dependence on unavailable regional planning documentation.
CONCLUSIONS

The RES Amendments Law is aimed at implementing EU renewable energy regulation. For market participants, the key developments are the introduction of renewables acceleration areas, the simplification and standardisation of permitting procedures for RES projects, and the establishment of regulatory principles for renewable energy support schemes. At the same time, the practical implementation of its provisions will depend on implementing acts of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and other authorities.

If you would like to discuss the issues raised in this paper in more detail, please contact the SK team.

Information contained in this legal alert is for general informational purposes only, does not constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice adapted to the specific circumstances.