Key lessons from Ukraine can inform energy resilience planning worldwide

New report identifies 10 takeaways for countries across the globe, including the benefits of decentralisation and standardising and stockpiling critical equipment

Insights developed to keep Ukraine's energy system functioning under extreme conditions can offer valuable guidance for governments worldwide, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.

The analysis, Energy System Resilience: Lessons learned from Ukraine, highlights 10 pillars for energy system resilience that have been drawn from Ukraine's experience. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian energy infrastructure has been a major target of attacks, requiring extensive efforts to limit disruptions to energy supplies and ensure the population has access to power and heating.

Against this backdrop, Ukraine has showed determination to pursue a new architecture of energy resilience - working to decentralise electricity and heat generation, adding mobile generators, developing underground control systems, and more. The steps it has taken can inform resilience planning underway in countries around the world, according to the report.

The takeaways identified by the report include the benefits of putting resilience at the centre of energy system planning; deploying physical "hardening" measures to protect infrastructure; building comprehensive emergency response capabilities; ensuring effective emergency communication mechanism to reach citizens; leveraging decentralisation and distributed energy resources, which are easier to restore when damaged; maintaining emergency oil stocks as a buffer; standardising and stockpiling critical equipment; treating data as a strategic asset; embedding cyber resilience into all aspects of system planning and operations; and building mechanisms for swift and effective cross-border collaboration.

In each case, the report provides a snapshot of what Ukraine has done and delivers practical recommendations that policymakers and regulators elsewhere can take into consideration, based on their national priorities.

The IEA has worked closely with Ukraine, an Association country, on energy system resilience, publishing a 10-point plan ahead of the 2024-25 winter, along with a 2025-26 update and a roadmap for decentralising Ukraine's power system. This has provided Ukraine with critical assistance, while also offering invaluable real-world lessons that can inform resilience globally.