The company, which was founded in 2020, is also working on a second initiative, the Zakarpattia Hydrogen Valley, backed by EU Horizon Europe funding and designed as a cross-border hydrogen supply corridor toward Slovakia and Central Europe.

In an interview with Renewables Now, founder Dr Oleksandr Riepkin discusses the status and financing strategy of both projects, the risks of delivering large-scale hydrogen infrastructure during wartime and the policy and regulatory conditions he sees as essential to reaching final investment decisions.

Hydrogen Ukraine has two flagship projects — the Odesa Hydrogen Valley and the Zakarpattia Hydrogen Valley. Can you walk us through where each project stands today in terms of development milestones, permitting, funding readiness and expected timelines for FID and construction?

The Odesa Hydrogen Valley, in the Reni area, is currently the more advanced of the two. It has moved beyond early concept work into a technically modelled and economically substantiated development stage. Under the Innovate Ukraine programme, supported by UK International Development and the FCDO, the project received funding to develop the full value chain — a 100-MW green hydrogen plant, renewable power supply, a cross-border hydrogen pipeline study and underground storage assessment. We have already finalised three production scenarios — hydrogen, ammonia and methanol, completed core facility designs, developed BIM-based layouts, analysed supplier offers and built detailed financial models. Importantly, the ESIA has been completed for all options, with no significant adverse impacts identified, which means the project is already in a strong permitting-readiness position. The renewable supply concept is based on 120 MW of solar and 80 MW of wind, with grid balancing also being assessed. Overall, Odesa is best described as investment-ready at pre-FEED/bankability level, with the next step being conversion of this work into commercial structuring — offtake alignment, financing package, final grid confirmations and implementation strategy.

The Zakarpattia Hydrogen Valley is earlier in the development cycle, but strategically very important. It is part of the EastGateH2V initiative and is designed as a cross-border hydrogen platform linked to the Central European Hydrogen Corridor and future supply to Slovakia and wider EU markets. The current phase is clearly a feasibility and corridor-definition stage. The project has secured grant funding from the Clean Hydrogen Partnership under Horizon Europe to support the feasibility study for a 100-MW first-phase plant, scalable up to 1.5 GW, as well as the techno-economic study for a hydrogen pipeline connection toward Kosice. The work completed to date includes preliminary techno-economic studies for the production plant, grid connection, renewable electricity supply, export options and transport corridor integration; water resource availability has also been assessed.

How are you structuring the financing for these projects? Are you targeting equity partners, debt financing or government-backed instruments? And what level of investor or lender interest are you seeing at this stage?

Hydrogen Ukraine is structuring financing in a phased and blended approach, reflecting both the scale of the projects and the current maturity of the hydrogen market.

For the Odesa Hydrogen Valley, the focus is now on commercial structuring and capital mobilisation. We are targeting a combination of strategic equity partners, particularly industrial off-takers and energy players, who can anchor demand and de-risk the project; project finance debt, including international financial institutions such as development banks and export credit agencies; as well as government-backed instruments and grant funding, which remain critical in early hydrogen projects to bridge the competitiveness gap.

The project has already benefited from grant funding under Innovate Ukraine, which allowed us to de-risk the technical, environmental and financial aspects. With ESIA completed and strong financial modelling in place, we are now in a position to engage with investors on a more concrete basis, including structured discussions around offtake-linked financing and long-term contracts. At this stage, we are seeing growing interest from both strategic investors and IFIs, particularly due to the project’s flexibility and its clear linkage to European markets through cross-border infrastructure.

For the Zakarpattia Hydrogen Valley, financing is structured more around early-stage public and innovation funding, combined with preparation for future large-scale investment. The project is currently supported by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership under Horizon Europe, which finances the feasibility and corridor studies.

In terms of investor appetite, we are clearly seeing a shift from exploratory interest to more targeted engagement. Investors today are much more focused on bankability, regulatory clarity and secured offtake, rather than just concept-stage projects.

Overall, our strategy is to combine public support with private capital, anchor projects through industrial partnerships and move step-by-step from de-risking to full-scale commercial deployment.

In 2025, the company opened an office in London. Beyond international visibility, what specific functions will it serve and what gaps in project development or partnership building is it designed to fill?

First, London plays a central role in project financing and capital markets, particularly for energy transition infrastructure. One of the key functions of the office is therefore to support the structuring and execution of financing, including engagement with international investors, development finance institutions, export credit agencies and private capital. This is especially important for projects like Odesa Hydrogen Valley, which are entering the bankability and capital-raising phase.

Second, the London presence allows us to be much closer to offtakers and industrial partners, particularly those shaping future demand for hydrogen and its derivatives — ammonia, methanol and low-carbon fuels. Securing long-term offtake is a critical gap in many hydrogen projects globally and we see London as a hub where we can actively structure these commercial relationships.

Third, the office strengthens our ability to work on cross-border project development and regulatory alignment, particularly between Ukraine and the EU/UK markets. Hydrogen projects are not purely domestic. They depend on infrastructure, certification and market access. Being present in London helps us engage more effectively with international stakeholders shaping these frameworks, including certification systems, trading mechanisms and carbon regulation.

In terms of gaps, the key one we are addressing is the interface between project development and global capital and markets. Ukraine has strong fundamentals (renewable resources, infrastructure, industrial demand), but historically has been less connected to international project finance ecosystems. The London office helps bridge that gap by positioning Hydrogen Ukraine directly within one of the world’s leading hubs for energy transition investment.

How realistic is it to deliver large hydrogen development plans under the current circumstances? What do you see as the biggest risks that could delay or derail your projects and which policy or regulatory decisions would have the highest impact in helping you succeed?

In Ukraine’s case, the context is obviously more complex due to the war. However, this has also accelerated the need to rebuild the energy system on new, more resilient and decentralised principles, where hydrogen plays a strategic role. What we are seeing is a shift away from purely long-term visions toward practical, step-by-step implementation, starting with pilot-scale and modular projects and scaling as conditions stabilise.

From our perspective, there are three main categories of risk.

First, the hydrogen economy is still emerging, and the biggest challenge today is not production, but secured demand and bankable offtake. Without long-term contracts or clear price signals, it is difficult to reach final investment decisions (FID).

Second, hydrogen projects sit at the intersection of energy, industry and infrastructure, and in many cases, the regulatory frameworks are still evolving. This includes certification schemes, cross-border transport rules, grid access and market design. For Ukraine in particular, alignment with EU rules, especially around RFNBO certification and Guarantees of Origin, is critical to unlock export potential and investor confidence.

Third, large-scale hydrogen requires coordination between renewables, grid capacity, storage and transport corridors. Delays in any one of these elements can impact the entire project timeline. This is particularly relevant for cross-border projects like Zakarpattia, where coordination with neighbouring countries is essential.

In terms of what would have the highest impact from a policy perspective, there are several key enablers.

A top priority is clear and stable certification and market rules, aligned within and with the EU.

Second is support for offtake and demand creation, for example, through contracts for difference, quotas or industrial decarbonisation incentives. These mechanisms are essential to close the gap between current production costs and market prices.

And finally, continued international financial support and risk-mitigation instruments are critical in the current context to crowd in private capital.

So overall, delivering large-scale hydrogen projects in the current circumstances is challenging, but absolutely realistic. Success depends on alignment between project development, market creation and policy frameworks.

Interview by Martina Markosyan

This article was first published on Renewables Now