The Board of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has approved a $116.2 million investment plan for Ukraine as part of the Renewable Energy Integration (REI) program to develop cross-border interconnections, expand renewable energy capacity, and build energy storage systems, said Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister for Energy.
“This will help accelerate the integration of the Ukrainian power system into the European energy grid and will also strengthen the transformation of the Ukrainian energy sector,” he wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
The plan was developed with support from partners at the World Bank and under the coordination of the International Finance Corporation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The approved program will be implemented through two channels: public and private.
As part of the public-sector plan, an investment package worth approximately $200 million was put together in collaboration with the World Bank and NEC “Ukrenergo,” which, in particular, provides for the construction of a 400 kV cross-border interconnector between Chernivtsi -Suceava, which will provide additional transmission capacity of 880 MW toward Ukraine and 445 MW toward European power grids.
In addition, the package includes the modernization and enhanced protection of five high-voltage substations, engineering support for the implementation of the investments, as well as the modernization of Ukrenergo’s IT, telecommunications, and operational infrastructure.
At the same time, the private sector component is being developed by the IFC and the EBRD and involves supporting private investments in energy storage systems, specifically standalone BESS, which will provide 610 MW of battery storage capacity. The plan also includes renewable generation projects combined with storage, as well as other distributed energy solutions.
“The implementation of such projects will help increase the resilience of Ukraine’s power grid, which faces targeted attacks from the Russian Federation on a daily basis. I am grateful to the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the EBRD, and the CIF for their support and our close cooperation,” Shmyhal emphasized.
Board of Directors, CIF, Climate Investment Fund, Ukraine’s investment plan
