Rebuilding Ukraine: EU allocates €100 mln grant to restore and protect Ukraine’s energy facilities

The European Union allocated €100 million in grant funds to the Ukrenergo  electricity transmission system operator in Ukraine for the restoration and protection of energy facilities.

This was reported by the press service of Ukrenergo, Rubryka writes.

What is the problem?

Over the past few months, Russians have carried out more than ten massive attacks on energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine.

Ukraine lost 50% of its power generation capacity due to shelling, and the authorities are working on restoration to have as much generation as possible before winter.

In addition, Russia attacked the thermal power stations more than 180 times, resulting in the loss of 90% of their capacity.

This has significantly reduced generation capacity within the country. For this reason, Ukrenergo applies daily blackout schedules. On weekdays, they recently occur around the clock.

What is the solution?

"The €100 million grant agreement was signed yesterday in Kyiv by Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the chairman of the board of NEC Ukrenergo, and Lorenz Gessner, the head of the representative office of the German state development bank KfW Bankengruppe in Ukraine," the energy experts noted.

How does it work?

The European Commission authorized KfW to direct the funds of the special EU budget program Ukraine Investment Facility to Ukrenergo and to ensure the financing and implementation of several priority energy projects, such as:

• modernization of high-voltage substations in the western regions of Ukraine, development of interstate interconnectors that
• connect Ukraine with the energy system of continental Europe;
• repair and restoration of equipment destroyed or damaged by shelling, as well as purchase and delivery of new ones;
• strengthening of physical protection of Ukrenergo substations.

This grant is already the second phase of the target program, "Reconstruction and Restoration of Ukraine's electricity transmission infrastructure."

Thus, on June 11, during the Berlin conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine (#URC2024), Ukrenergo signed an agreement with KfW regarding the program's first phase in the amount of €15 million.

It is worth adding that since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukrenergo has already attracted €1.5 billion of international aid. In particular, €324 million was raised with the support of KfW.

"We are sincerely grateful to our international partners for their contribution to the creation of a more energy-efficient, modern, and protected energy grid in Ukraine and for ensuring the stable synchronous operation of the Ukrainian and European energy systems," the company added.

We will remind you that during the two years of the full-scale invasion, the Russians repeatedly attacked the objects of the energy infrastructure of Ukraine. They almost completely destroyed the thermal generation, blew up the Kakhovka HPP, shelled the Dniprovska, and occupied the Zaporizhzhia NPP and part of the Ukrainian renewable energy facilities.

Rubryka explains what is currently happening with Ukraine's energy system and tells how to effectively restore it using an example that is already working.