NPC Ukrenergo and Polish system operator PSE are considering increasing electricity imports to Ukraine by an additional 150 MW, which could bring the total to 2.5 GW of electricity imports from Europe, acting CEO of Ukrenergo Oleksiy Brekht said at the 10th Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) on Thursday.
”2,100 MW is the basic value that we have and can maintain. Further, we have the so-called guaranteed emergency assistance, which is another 250 MW. And today we are working with the Polish system operator on another initiative that could provide an additional 150 MW of imports,” he said.
According to Brecht, the total capacity of European imports will thus reach 2.5 GW. “In total, this is 2500 MW, almost 2.5 nuclear power units, which will help us significantly this winter,” the head of the company emphasized.
As he informed, Ukraine, together with its European partners, expects to achieve stable supply of the achieved import volumes also after the autumn-winter period of 2024-25.
“We expect that in the spring we will have a dynamic opportunity to revise the establishment of certain throughput capacities (interstate crossings of power lines) and expect that it will not be lower than the existing value,” Brecht said.
As reported, Ukraine and the EU have agreed to increase the maximum capacity of electricity imports from the EU countries from December 1, 2024, from the current 1.7 to 2.1 GW.
Ukraine will also have an additional 250 MW of guaranteed capacity for emergency flows from the EU.
In turn, starting from March 2025, European transmission system operators will be able to review the capacity limit for commercial electricity exchange between the EU, Ukraine and Moldova on a monthly basis.
NPC Ukrenergo currently sees no reason to introduce schedules for limiting electricity consumption for households, the company said on Telegram.
“The drop in air temperature at the beginning of next week will indeed predictably lead to an increase in energy consumption. But whether this will require the use of blackouts (in particular, for household consumers) can only be predicted by NPC Ukrenergo, which has not yet provided any forecasts on the application of restrictive measures,” the company said in a statement on Friday.
It is emphasized that Ukrenergo, together with the Ministry of Energy, regional military administrations and energy companies, is doing everything possible to ensure that there is no need to apply blackouts now.
As reported, Volodymyr Velychko, an independent member of Centrenergo’s supervisory board, said in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine that hourly power outage schedules could start as early as next week with a significant drop in temperature.
In response, Centrenergo called the assumption of possible power outages the personal opinion of a member of its supervisory board.
Schedules of power supply restrictions for households are introduced after other measures to balance the power system, such as internal reserves, imports, emergency assistance, and schedules of restrictions for industry, have been exhausted.
Ukraine and the EU have agreed to increase the capacity of electricity imports during the winter months to 2.1 GW, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Tuesday.
“Starting December 1, the maximum capacity of imports of e/e from EU countries will be increased from the current 1.7 GW to 2.1 GW. This will increase the resilience of the Ukrainian energy system in the face of criminal Russian shelling and infrastructure destruction. I am grateful to European partners, in particular to European Commissioner Kadri Simson for their consistent position and effective steps to support our energy system on the eve of winter,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko was quoted by the press service as saying.
Ukraine will also additionally have an opportunity for guaranteed 250 MW of overflow capacity from the EU in emergency assistance mode.
As the Energy Ministry recalled, the need to make an important decision for Ukraine on increasing the import capacity was discussed at a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in September in Kiev.
The Swedish government has approved an additional SEK 500 million ($49 million) to support heating and electricity in Ukraine.
According to the Swedish government’s website, the new support is aimed at covering the needs of the most vulnerable people in the country. This new support will be provided in parallel with the extensive Swedish support already provided to Ukraine’s energy sector.
“Today, the government is allocating an additional SEK 500 million to support heating and electricity in Ukraine. Russia is increasingly targeting critical energy infrastructure. This new support will go to generate electricity for about 185,000 people and help support Ukrainian society, economy and business,” said Minister for International Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell.
He emphasized that this is crucial for Ukraine’s resilience.
Minister of Energy, Business and Industry Ebba Busch noted that Sweden will continue to support Ukraine “as long as it takes”. “This SEK 500 million will be one of Sweden’s largest contributions to Ukraine’s energy supply and will help generate electricity for hospitals and thousands of Ukrainian homes,” she said.
The initiative includes two gas turbines for initial power generation. The production facility will be protected in a way that minimizes the devastating effects of Russian attacks.
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency will be primarily responsible for Sweden’s contribution. The project is a joint investment with the Ukrainian state energy company and other international financial institutions. The goal is for this production facility to start operating in 2025.
NEC Ukrenergo plans on Monday, September 2, to apply electricity restrictions for all regions in 1-2 queues throughout the day, NEC Ukrenergo said in Telegram.
In particular, from 00:00 to 16:00 there will be one queue of disconnections, from 16:00 to 24:00 – two.
Starting Monday, August 25, Ukraine may return to exporting electricity during daytime hours when the power system has a surplus, NPC Ukrenergo reported on Telegram.
According to the company, this is facilitated by a decrease in heat and, as a result, electricity consumption, as well as the early completion of the scheduled repair of one of the units of nuclear power plants. At the same time, solar power plants are actively operating during the daytime.
Ukrenergo reminded that in order to avoid accidents, the power system must operate in a balanced manner – the amount of energy produced every minute must correspond to the amount of consumed resource.
“Given the economic inexpediency of limiting the operation of solar power plants, starting from August 25, Ukraine plans to resume electricity exports to neighboring countries. Tomorrow, an auction will be held for access to interstate crossings in the directions of Romania, Hungary and Moldova,” the NPC said.
Electricity will be exported exclusively during the period of surplus – during the active operation of SPPs. During periods of maximum consumption, when there is not enough capacity in the power system, electricity will not be exported from Ukraine.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/
