Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

In 2025, Uzbekistan doubled its electricity production from solar and wind power

Electricity production in Uzbekistan in 2025 amounted to 86.7 billion kWh, which is 6% more than a year earlier: in 2024, the country produced 81.5 billion kWh of electricity.

Of the total production, 16.8 billion kWh came from renewable energy sources — solar, wind, and hydroelectric power plants. This figure increased by 29% compared to 2024.

At the same time, electricity production by solar and wind power plants alone amounted to 10.5 billion kWh, an increase of 2.1 times. The development of renewable energy has saved 3.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas and prevented the emission of 4.7 million tons of harmful substances.

There are 148 power plants operating in the country with a total capacity of 25,797 MW, including thermal power plants and CHPs (17,551 MW), HPPs (2,441 MW), solar power plants (3,930 MW), wind power plants (1,652 MW), and block stations (223 MW). During the year, 42 new generation projects with a capacity of 4,647 MW were commissioned, including solar, wind, battery, thermal, hydro, and cogeneration facilities. At the same time, 11 substations with a capacity of 1,614 MVA and 420 km of power grids were commissioned, and construction began on 21 more projects with a total capacity of 3,508 MW.

New industrial facilities were launched: a plant producing 155 hydroelectric units per year in the Bostanlyk district, an enterprise producing 15,000 transformers per year in Angren, and the first national hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of 38 MW in the Namangan region, assembled entirely from local components.

Electricity supply reached 77.1 billion kWh (+14%), with the number of consumers exceeding 8.7 million. The installed capacity of small solar panels increased to 2 GW, and the volume of solar collectors to almost 5 million liters. Households and businesses were provided with subsidies for the installation of solar systems in the amount of 322.9 billion soums.

Thanks to the modernization of the networks, the electricity supply to more than 800,000 households in 954 mahallas has been improved, and energy-saving measures have saved 2.7 billion kWh of electricity and 2 billion cubic meters of gas. According to the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the introduction of new capacities has enabled the country to transition to net electricity exports: 2.6 billion kWh are planned to be sent to neighboring countries, which will help reduce energy risks in the region.

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Electricity imports to Ukraine increased by 54% in December due to attacks on power grid

In December 2025, Ukraine significantly increased its electricity imports – by 54% compared to the previous month, to 639.5 thousand MWh, which was the highest figure since July 2024, the DIXI Group analytical center reported on its website on Wednesday, citing data from Energy Map.

“The increase in imports occurred against the backdrop of a deterioration in the power grid due to massive attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure and seasonal growth in consumption,” the center said.

During December, Russia carried out four massive attacks, targeting electricity generation, transmission, and distribution facilities. In particular, the attacks on December 6 and 23 led to a forced reduction in the generation of nuclear power plants, which provide more than half of Ukraine’s total electricity production. An additional factor contributing to the increased load on the power system was a significant drop in air temperature throughout the country, which led to an increase in energy consumption.

According to Energy Map, the increase in supply volumes was usually recorded the day after or two days after the shelling, during a period of reduced available generation and growing power shortages. Thus, after the attack on December 6, imports increased to 21.3 thousand MWh on December 7 (+18%) and to 32.6 thousand MWh on December 8 (+81%). A similar trend was observed after other massive strikes that took place on December 13, 23, and 27.

In December, Hungary accounted for the largest share of imports – 41%. Slovakia accounted for 21%, Romania and Poland for 18% each, and Moldova for 2%.

In December, the maximum transmission capacity of inter-state crossings for electricity imports increased from 2.1 GW to 2.3 GW. On average, the available transmission capacity was used at 37.4% during the month.

“Thus, December 2025 was the third consecutive month that Ukraine ended as a net importer of electricity,” DIXI Group emphasized.

On the other hand, Ukraine did not export electricity in December. The last time zero export volumes were recorded was in August 2024.

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Electricity imports from EU limited to 1.6 GW due to grid problems

Ukraine currently imports electricity from Europe around the clock at a maximum capacity of 1.6 GW during peak hours, which does not cover the maximum allowable import capacity due to grid restrictions.

This was announced by Anatoliy Zamulko, acting head of the State Energy Supervision Inspectorate of Ukraine (Derzhenergonadzor), on Thursday during the “Yedyni Novyny” telethon.

“The peak part of imports, depending on the situation, is 1.5-1.6 thousand MW, which is not yet the limit allowed to us by contracts with Europe. The only problem that remains today is network restrictions to push that electricity to eastern Ukraine,” he said.

As reported, the maximum agreed commercial capacity for imports from the EU from December 2024 is 2.1 GW. On average, in November 2025, the utilization of transmission capacity was 27.4%, but during peak evening consumption hours, it increases significantly.

“If we had the opportunity to restore that network infrastructure more quickly, we would certainly have much better opportunities to provide energy through imports,” said the head of the State Energy Regulatory Commission.

As he explained, with the current drop in temperature and the onset of frost in Ukraine, there has been an increase in energy consumption. To balance the energy system, transmission system operators (TSOs, regional power companies) together with regional military administrations are freeing up additional capacity for consumers by including facilities that were not previously subject to disconnection in consumption restriction schedules.

“We are fighting to mitigate the drop in temperature in various ways, including one of the effective tools that will be used throughout Ukraine, which is to take into account the facilities that are to be included in the schedules and increase the fairness that is being talked about in terms of distribution,” Zamulko said.

He stressed that the Ukrainian energy sector continues to function as a single entity.

“We remain a unified energy system, working in parallel with Europe, carrying out all transfers in accordance with the agreements reached with our partners, using import capacities and, if necessary, using emergency assistance,” said the head of the State Energy Regulatory Commission.

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Record imports, but no electricity: where does European electricity go in Ukraine?

Ukraine imports record amounts of electricity from the EU, but millions of consumers still sit without electricity for 12-16 hours or more. In other words, there are imports, but no electricity. This raises a logical question: where are the megawatts “lost”?

However, the paradox is easily explained: imports are not “light in the socket,” but only an additional source of power. For electricity to reach a particular neighborhood or building, highways, substations, and distribution networks must be operational—and that is where the biggest problems lie today.

The issue is further exacerbated by the fact that after large-scale shelling in early December, the capacity of nuclear power plants (which are the base generation of the Ukrainian power system) was reduced. According to the IAEA, damage to the networks led to the shutdown of some units or their transfer to reduced capacity. Therefore, the topic of imports has been discussed very actively at all levels recently.

The unvarnished figures: imports are growing, exports are falling

November already showed a systemic gap. Electricity exports fell by 94% compared to October 2025, to 5.3 thousand MWh, and have virtually stopped since November 11. Recall that in October, Ukrainian electricity exports fell by 85% compared to September. Imports, on the contrary, increased by 17% to approximately 415,000 MWh, reaching their highest level since the beginning of the year.

Data for December is not yet available, but it is already clear that Ukraine remains a net importer of electricity for the second month in a row. The structure of supplies has changed somewhat: as in October, Hungary is the largest supplier (about 44%), but the shares of Slovakia (10 times) and Moldova (2 times) have increased significantly. At the same time, Poland and Romania have declined in the structure of electricity imports.

On December 1, the maximum available import cross-section was increased from 2.1 to 2.3 GW, but it should be noted that both figures are still more theoretical. After all, the average actual use of the cross-section in November was only about 27%, with peaks of up to 88% at certain hours.

Megawatts stuck in the grid: five reasons

In other words, the resource is there, but not always where and when it is needed. There are several main reasons why even the available electricity does not reach the end consumer.

  • Damaged west-east corridors. Massive shelling destroys high-voltage lines and key substations, making it physically difficult to transfer imported electricity from the west to the center, east, and south of the country.
  • Domestic generation deficit during peak hours. Consumption in the evening hours is not covered by weak generation and supply reserves. Imports help to some extent, but they are not able to meet the need for maneuvering capacity, especially where local networks are damaged.
  • Problems with balancing the system. The power system dispatcher (Ukrenergo) cannot rely solely on imports: local reserves are needed to maintain frequency and respond to peak loads.
  • Features of supply priorities. When there is a shortage of capacity, critical facilities such as hospitals, water utilities, and transport are supplied first. Households are subject to stricter hourly power cut schedules (HPCS).
  • Equipment supply and logistics. Transformers, circuit breakers, and cable fittings are expensive and take a long time to manufacture. Warehouses are running out of stock, and without them, there is no reserve to quickly “unravel” bottlenecks.

The market responds to shortages with prices. In November 2025, the Ukrainian day-ahead market became one of the most expensive in Europe (with a price of around €140 per MWh), while in Sweden the price was around €36/MWh and in France, for example, €43/MWh.

This is not about the “greed” of sellers and suppliers, but about the lack of cheap domestic supply and network constraints.

European background: someone else’s surplus is not our insurance

The EU is increasing inter-state flows, which lowers prices and adds flexibility. In 2024, France increased its nuclear and hydroelectric power generation and became the largest net exporter in the region.

But even France’s record surplus is not an automatic “magic bullet” for Ukraine. The reason is asymmetry of time and place: surpluses often occur at times when we have a different load profile, and at nodes from which we cannot quickly “pump” megawatts.

Some EU countries also have electricity surpluses, especially during so-called solar and wind windows, and are also looking for places to sell their surpluses. But the same problems arise: complex logistics (both in the EU and in Ukraine) and load asymmetry.

In other words, imports can be very useful, but they should not be seen as a strategy to replace our own maneuverable capacity.

When blackouts may decrease

However, the current situation is not hopeless. Ukrenergo expects a gradual reduction in restrictions as damaged facilities are repaired and there are no new attacks.

The government is synchronizing restoration, construction of protective structures, creation of fuel reserves, and connection of cogeneration plants to the grid. This will add local capacity where it is most needed.

The effect of increasing the cross-section to 2.3 GW is there, but it is limited by internal nodes. The closest practical relief will come from connecting decentralized sources and restoring networks.

No illusions: how to reduce outages

In the coming weeks, the focus will be on speed and accuracy. First of all, it is necessary to restore throughput capacity in critical corridors and key substations, where a single replacement of a transformer or circuit breaker returns tens of megawatts to the city.

Mobile substations, field crews, and “hot” equipment logistics are a matter of hours and days, not months.

At the same time, cogeneration, gas piston, and gas turbine units need to be connected to the grid in deficient nodes. Where “black holes” of evening peak demand appear on the map, local generation can “pick up” the load.

In the next few months, the transition to managed demand will become key. Industry and large commercial consumers are able to “smooth out” the load according to clear rules and compensation. This is not an abstraction: power restriction schedules (PRS) are already in place, but they need to be transformed into civilized DR (demand response) programs with a predictable effect.

It is also necessary to continue creating additional “west-east” corridors, additional switching nodes in the 330-750 kV network, and local reserves around megacities and large substations. Energy storage devices in large nodes support the system during 2-3 peak hours and reduce the duration of GPP.

In the long term, more game-changing capacity is needed. We need 3.5-4 GW of new decentralized maneuverable generation, as close to the consumer as possible. Gas installations, cogeneration clusters for heat and electricity, microgrids for critical areas — all this makes the system less dependent on one or two nodes.

Engineering logic must go hand in hand with institutional logic: transparent corporate governance, stable settlement rules, and rapid procurement of critical equipment. Without trust, there will be no funding; without funding, there will be no underground distribution points, reinforced intersections, or warehouses with backup transformers.

What does “fewer outages” mean in practice?

Don’t expect a magic button that will turn off the GPV overnight. A realistic scenario is a gradual reduction in the duration and severity of outages in regions where:

– at least part of the west-east trunk lines have been restored;

– local cogeneration/gas plants are connected;

– demand management programs for businesses are in place;

– critical infrastructure is provided with reserves.

This is a “mosaic of solutions”: each piece separately does not save the day, but together they have a tangible effect.

Conclusion without self-deception

Imports with a potential of 2.3 GW may be a temporary salvation, but by no means a panacea. As long as high-voltage lines and power transmission nodes remain damaged, imported megawatts will not turn into light in homes.

The path to shorter outages lies in three quick actions:

  • quickly repair transformers and power lines;
  • quickly connect decentralized generation;
  • quickly launch managed demand and local reserves.

At the same time, it is necessary to invest in our own maneuvering capacity and the development of central and local networks. Record imports are a symptom of an open wound. It is treated not with intersection figures, but with systematic rehabilitation of networks and a return of trust in the rules of the game.

Source: https://expertsclub.eu/analiz-potochnoyi-sytuacziyi-z-importom-elektroenergiyi-v-ukrayini/

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Ukraine increased electricity imports by 2.5 times in October — DIXI Group

In October 2025, Ukraine imported 353.9 thousand MWh of electricity, which is 2.5 times more than in September, according to the DIXI Group analytical center, citing data from Energy Map.

“This is the highest monthly import figure since the beginning of the year. At the same time, exports fell sevenfold to 90.8 thousand MWh, which was the first decline in the last five months,” the center reported.

According to DIXI Group, the sharp increase in imports is due to the deterioration of the situation in the energy system caused by massive shelling of energy infrastructure. In particular, during October, Russian attacks damaged, among other things, thermal and hydroelectric power facilities, which led to a power shortage. As a result, emergency and scheduled hourly power cuts for the population were resumed, as well as restrictions on consumption for industry and business.

The situation was exacerbated by a drop in temperature. Low output from residential solar power plants due to cloudy weather, as well as the active use of electric heaters before the start of the heating season, placed an additional burden on the power system.

Electricity imports in October were wave-like in nature, due to enemy shelling. In particular, after a massive strike on October 10, external supplies rose sharply – on October 11, imports reached 19.0 thousand MWh, which is 141.5% more than the previous day.

A similar situation repeated itself after the attack on October 22: on October 23-24, there was a sharp increase in imports to 19.8 thousand MWh and 23.4 thousand MWh, respectively, or +64.8% and +94.4% compared to October 22. At the end of the month, after another large-scale attack on October 30, Ukraine was again forced to increase external purchases: on October 31, imports amounted to 22.4 thousand MWh (+76.9% compared to the previous day).

In the structure of imports by direction of electricity supply, Hungary accounts for more than 50% – 180.0 thousand MWh (50.9%). This is followed by Poland with 80.2 thousand MWh (22.7%) and Romania with 76.9 thousand MWh (21.7%).

The maximum agreed commercial capacity for imports from the EU from December 2024 is 2.1 GW. On average, in October 2025, capacity utilization was 22.6%, with a maximum on October 18 between 20:00 and 21:00 (84.4%) and the only hour of the month when no electricity was imported (October 3 between 22:00 and 23:00). At the same time, during peak morning and evening consumption hours, capacity utilization increases significantly.

In addition to the commercial capacity of 2.1 GW for Ukraine, an additional 0.25 GW of emergency assistance is available from neighboring ENTSO-E operators as “insurance” at critical moments. Thus, emergency assistance was provided during October from Poland, both in the form of additional electricity with a total volume of 28.8 thousand MWh and in the form of supplies of surplus electricity to Poland (5.25 thousand MWh). There is no public information available on other neighbouring power systems.

In turn, the main volumes of electricity exports in October were carried out during hours of minimum domestic consumption – mainly at night and early in the morning – from 0:00 to 6:00.

In terms of export structure by destination, Hungary prevails with 39.3 thousand MWh (43.2%), Moldova with 31.1 thousand MWh (34.3%), and Romania with 14.9 thousand MWh (16.4%).

“As a result, imports in October exceeded exports by almost four times – the negative balance in October amounted to 263.0 thousand MWh,” DIXI Group concluded.

Overall, based on the results of the first 10 months of 2025, Ukraine is a net importer of electricity, with a negative balance of 168.7 thousand MWh for this period.

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EU countries could save EUR250 bln annually by switching to electricity – Schneider Electric

EU countries could save EUR250 billion annually by 2040 by accelerating the transition to electricity, according to a press release from France’s Schneider Electric.

“The so-called ‘energy trinity’ – the balance between affordability, security, and sustainability – remains a challenge, as high dependence on fossil fuel imports keeps prices high and delays the achievement of climate goals,” the company said.

According to a press release based on Schneider Electric’s report “Europe’s Energy Security and Competitiveness – Accelerating Electrification,” the current level of electrification in Europe is only 21% — a figure that has remained unchanged over the past decade and is 10% lower than in China, where rapid electrification is taking place. At the same time, the cost of energy for domestic consumers in the EU is EUR0.27 per kWh, in the US — EUR0.15/kWh, and in China — EUR0.08/kWh.

“This means that daily energy consumption for each EU citizen is three times more expensive than for Chinese residents,” the report’s authors concluded.

According to the document, the pace and level of electrification in different European countries vary significantly due to differences in infrastructure, policy, market maturity, and consumer behavior. In particular, some countries, such as the Scandinavian countries, have made significant progress in the electrification of transport and buildings, while others are only beginning to scale up their efforts. At the same time, Southern Europe shows higher rates of building electrification, while Western and Central Europe focus on industrial electrification and the development of prosumer initiatives.

“To remain competitive on the world stage, Europe needs to accelerate the transition to a more electrified economy,” according to Schneider Electric analysts.

The report identifies several key policy areas that need to be implemented to achieve this goal.

First and foremost, according to the authors of the document, governments need to reduce the price difference between electricity and natural gas by gradually phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and reforming the tax system to encourage the use of clean energy.

Equally important is accelerating financing — simplifying access to investment, introducing targeted incentives, especially for small and medium-sized businesses, and directing revenues from emissions trading and innovation funds to electrification projects.

The report also highlights the need to develop local markets, which involves mandatory electrification of new buildings and industrial processes, support for the rapid introduction of heat pumps and electric vehicles, and encouragement of prosumer initiatives.

In addition, an important direction is to promote local development through sustainable public procurement, accelerate standardization, and support European innovation and manufacturing—this will allow the economic and social benefits of electrification to be fully realized across the continent.

“This study is one of the most thorough analyses of Europe’s electrification potential and the policy actions needed to realise it. It emphasizes that electrification is vital — not only for achieving climate goals, but also for stimulating economic growth, energy independence, and industrial competitiveness,” said Laurent Bataille, Executive Vice President of Schneider Electric in Europe.

In his opinion, Europe must urgently overcome the stagnation of electrification, for which the relevant technologies already exist and are ready for implementation. At the same time, appropriate policy incentives and decisive business action are also needed to unlock the economic and environmental potential that EU countries need.

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