The situation in the Ukrainian energy system next week will be perceptibly more difficult compared to the current week, said the Chairman of the Board of the NEC Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytskyy.
“Next week will be more difficult for the energy system, because the heat wave will return and we will have a reduced capacity of nuclear power plants, if compared to the current week,” he said in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda on Friday.
According to the NEC head, due to the massive shelling, the energy system has lost its reserve of strength and has become dependent on sudden changes in electricity consumption and weather, forcing it to balance by shutting down consumers.
“Our energy system, having lost more than 9 GW of capacity due to shelling, now has no reserve of strength. If earlier we had additional power plants that could be switched on promptly, we would overlap by switching on some hydro units or TPP units, now we simply do not have such a maneuver,” – explained Kudrytskyy.”
As previously reported, Energoatom announced that it would put a 1000 MW nuclear power plant unit under repair as part of a planned repair campaign in 2024. The company pointed out that, given this and the increase in electricity consumption in July, the generation deficit in the power system may increase.
Prime Minister Denys Shmygal noted that saving e/e will be part of Ukraine’s daily life in the coming years due to Russian attacks on the country’s energy sector.
The World Bank Group’s IFC plans to mobilize about $345 million to build a new 350 MW wind power capacity in Ukraine, the corporation said on its website on Wednesday.
The report said the initiative was presented among other initiatives aimed at supporting Ukraine at the URC-2024 recovery conference in Berlin.
Now these projects, which are planned to be implemented in order to improve energy security and support further development of renewable energy in Ukraine, are undergoing due diligence and awaiting approval by the IFC management and Board of Directors, the corporation specified.
As reported, at URC-2024, Knud Rissel, commercial director of the German company Notus Energy, said that it is engaged in the implementation of a 300 MW WPP project in the Odessa region, the first phase of which will be 120 MW.
“We already have all the permits, in particular those related to land. Banks are supporting us, although they are taking a risk by supporting us. But we are all ready to work even under martial law,” he said.
According to Rissel, the company also signed some agreements on the project realization at this conference.
German company GOLDBECK SOLAR Investment and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are setting up a joint venture, GOLDBECK SOLAR Investment Ukraine, to implement 500MW solar power plant projects in Ukraine over the next three to five years.
“The aim of the new company is to develop, finance, construct and operate solar power projects to thereby support Ukraine’s energy independence and sustainability,” the company said in a press release on its website on Wednesday at the end of URC-2024 in Berlin.
GOLDBECK SOLAR Investment will receive a EUR5 million loan from DEG (Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft) for its commitment in Ukraine through the ImpactConnect program initiated and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Planning for the construction of the first solar park is due to start in the fall of 2024.
As noted, this is the EBRD’s first equity agreement in Ukraine’s energy sector since the full-scale Russian invasion. The document emphasizes the economic viability of the investment scenario and the continued role of GOLDBECK SOLAR as a reliable partner of the bank after previous debt financing transactions in Poland and Kazakhstan.
The EBRD, for its part, notes in a press release that the JV agreement will strengthen its relationship with GOLDBECK SOLAR Group, which it characterizes as an experienced German solar company with more than 20 years of experience. According to him, GOLDBECK SOLAR Group currently employs more than 550 people and has built more than 3 GW of solar capacity in 20 countries.
“This will be the group’s first investment and activity in Ukraine, which is also an important benchmark to stimulate foreign direct investment in its energy sector, especially with a focus on refurbishment and green transition,” the EBRD notes.
According to Joachim Goldbeck, CEO of GOLDBECK SOLAR Group, quoted on the company’s website, the group is aware of the risks posed by the current political situation, but recognizes: the future of Europe is linked to the future of Ukraine, “so we need to set an example today.”
“With our expertise and EBRD resources, we can make significant progress in the renewable energy sector. We see great potential in Ukraine and are confident that our actions will make a sustainable contribution to the country’s energy supply and encourage other companies to follow our path,” emphasized Olga Kovalchuk, Managing Director of the newly established GOLDBECK SOLAR Investment Ukraine.
According to Arvid Turkner, EBRD Managing Director for Ukraine and Moldova, the Bank welcomes this project, which has made it possible to attract key cross-border investments in Ukraine.
Grzegorz Zielinski, Director for Energy in Europe at the EBRD, in turn, expressed hope that the bank’s comprehensive approach to Ukraine’s energy sector at both public and private levels will catalyze further investment in the sector.
It is reported that in the framework of the URC Joachim Goldbeck and Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine Svetlana Grinchuk signed a memorandum of understanding with a joint commitment to cooperate in several areas and activities to promote private investment in the renewable energy sector of Ukraine.
The challenges of the Ukrainian economy are related to the lack of insurance and it is already obvious that this hinders the attraction of investors, who first of all think about the protection of their capital.
This opinion was expressed by the US Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2024) in Berlin on Wednesday.
“We all understand: in order for private investors to come in, insurance is needed. This is the first thing an investor thinks about,” she said.
According to Pritzker, she and her team took this as a call to action It was seconded by the US-based Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and global reinsurance broker Aon, which found practical innovative solutions to the issue. DFC already provides an insurance product designed for SMEs.
“We have purposely built an insurance model that is scalable. However, for this sector to flourish in Ukraine, many players are needed. I will encourage other insurance organizations, international institutions to think how they can join this model. I am confident: this mechanism will bring to Ukraine the necessary capital for its economic growth both when there is a war and when there is peace and reconstruction begins,” she emphasized.
According to DFC Executive Director Scott Nathan, before the war the corporation had a large portfolio in Ukraine, including risk insurance. Currently, to support the private sector and the country’s economy, one of the important toolkits in its portfolio is political risk insurance, which has closed $350 million worth of arrangements for three contracts in agriculture, manufacturing and education over the past year.
“Together with our partner ARCS, we as DFC can provide $50 million in war risk insurance, air raid risk, etc. to different clients. These can be small policies that can go to larger policies,” he noted.
At the same time, Nathan said that projects are being developed with Aon that can be scaled. One such project will be announced soon.
“Practically, we are helping local insurance companies build capacity for the country. Insurance is a mechanism to mobilize capital in the country and we hope to offer such an innovative tool. This is just the beginning, just part of our joint efforts to invest in Ukraine’s future, to lay the foundation for future investments when its recovery and reconstruction begins. It is important for the economy to work every day already now, during the war, and for this we need to build capacity in the insurance market. This is the key to success,” he said.
According to Aon President Erik Andersen, it is very important to provide protection by Ukrainian insurance companies, as well as to have a mechanism of pooled resources to provide insurance in the health care system, for small businesses, etc.,” he said.
“What we are saying is that we wanted to participate and invest our capital through the DFC, through local insurers. We have been working in Ukraine for a long time, it’s a big insurance program, and we want this capital to go to companies that operate in the country,” he said.
The volume of cargo transportation in containers in Ukraine in January-May 2024 reached the highest value for the last seven years and exceeded the pre-war indicators, follows from the analytical note of “Ukrzaliznytsya” (UZ), prepared for the meeting on the topic of intermodal transportation.
“In the first five months of 2024, the volume of cargo transportation in containers increased by 60% compared to the same period of 2023 and amounted to 116.129 thousand TEU (20-foot containers). The indicator is the highest for the last seven years and exceeds the volume of transportation for the same period in 2021 by 10%,” the document says.
It is indicated that in 2021, about 16% of the volume transported in containers accounted for transit, which is now virtually absent.
The main nomenclature in containers remains grain cargoes – 39%, as well as ferrous metals – 15%; cakes – 7%; oil – 6%; synthetic resins – 4%; sugar – 3%, chemicals – 2%.
During the period, about 25% of cargo in containers was transported in the import direction, 61% – in the export direction, 14% – in the domestic direction.
Since March 2023, UZ has been offering users of transportation services a new intermodal service that combines the transportation of container trains, contrailer trains and combined transport trains.
As of June 12, 2024, UZ transported 412 intermodal trains: 72 intermodal trains in the direction of Polish and Romanian ports and 340 such trains in the direction of Ukrainian ports.
It is also reported about changes in the terms of service provision. According to them, operators of intermodal train can postpone the date of its departure in one day, and operators staying outside Ukraine will be able to use UZ fitting platforms at domestic rates.
Strokes in Ukraine have grown younger by 10-15 years during the war, Health Minister Viktor Lyashko has stated.
“I can now go into the discussion and show the figures of the growth of strokes, to which leads exactly stressful situations in which we are. We can already today confirm the studies of the past years that the country where there is a war, strokes are getting 10-15 years younger,” he told the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2024) in Berlin on Tuesday.
Lyashko noted that “a completely different age group gets such diseases.”
