Ukraine in talks to increase electricity imports from EU to offset deficit – Reuters
Ukraine is engaged in talks to maximise the volume of possible electricity imports from the EU to compensate for the generating capacity destroyed by Russian attacks.
Source: Reuters, citing Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko
Details: Russian attacks have caused over US$1 billion in damage to Ukraine's energy sector, resulting in the loss of 8,000 MWh of power generation capacity.
At present, Ukraine can import no more than 1,700 MWh of electricity from the EU at a time.
"We're negotiating. Our task is to maximise this figure. Technically, we can receive (import) more than 2,000 MWh, even 2,400 MWh. I'm sure a decision will be made," Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said in parliament.
Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of Ukraine’s national power company Ukrenergo, said that 1,700 MWh is "the ceiling for now".
"Everything will depend on how quickly our European colleagues - energy system operators of neighbouring countries – will be able to implement projects to expand the capacity of their grids," Kudrytskyi said.
He added that European power companies need time and money to reinforce some substations, install additional transformers or build new power lines.
"We think 3,500 to 4,000 MWh of interstate interconnector capacity is something we can have in the horizon of five years," Kudrytskyi noted.
Support UP or become our patron!
