Siward Zomer stood on the roof of a hospital in Brovary, sunlight glinting off solar panels that now power life-saving equipment, and pointed not upward—but down. "The most important part of this project is not on the roof, but in the basement," he said, where inverters and massive batteries hum with the promise of energy independence. Just months earlier, this hospital, like so many across Ukraine, had faced blackouts during Russian missile strikes that targeted the national grid. Today, it stands as a beacon of resilience, one of the first medical facilities in the country powered by a fully integrated solar and storage system installed in 2024 with support from German partners.
The war has made energy survival a daily reality in Ukraine, but from crisis has emerged innovation. In Lviv, Drohobych, and Brovary, communities are embracing a model long proven in Europe: the energy cooperative, where residents collectively own and manage renewable energy projects. Siward, chair of Energie Samen and board member at REScoop.eu, traveled from the Netherlands to witness this transformation firsthand—his first visit since the full-scale invasion began. What he found was not just destruction, but determination. In Drohobych, a strategic meeting with the First Deputy Mayor led to an agreement to establish Ukraine’s first local energy cooperative, modeled on Dutch and Belgian examples where community ownership keeps profits local and energy democracy alive.
"Our goal is for the residents to become owners and investors themselves," Siward emphasized. "By becoming owners, we guarantee that all the profit generated remains within the community." This shift isn’t just technical—it’s cultural. In Boryslav, a college now trains a new generation of renewable energy specialists, preparing them to build and maintain decentralized systems. In Truskavets, a solar plant powers a critical water supply facility, shielding it from grid failures. And in Kyiv, construction continues amid war, with modern glass towers rising between Soviet-era blocks—a symbol of architectural and societal resistance.
The legal framework for energy communities in Ukraine is still evolving, but Siward urged local leaders not to wait. "You don’t need perfect laws to start building resilience," he said. With support from RePower Ukraine and European networks like REScoop.eu, these pilot projects are laying the foundation for a distributed energy future—one where no single strike can silence a city. As national broadcasters in the Netherlands air footage of Brovary’s solar-powered hospital, the message is clear: Ukraine isn’t just surviving. It’s reimagining energy, one community at a time.