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DTEK Group monthly briefing: Ukraine’s energy sector during war

Published by , Editorial Assistant
World Pipelines,


On Thursday 18 August, Ukraine’s energy security was the topic of DTEK CEO, Maxim Timchenko’s monthly online briefing.

Electricity export

  • On 30 July ENTSO-E allowed a 2.5-fold increase in the export of Ukrainian electricity to Europe, only up to 250 MW. This gives Ukraine a revenue for supporting energy sector. So, Ukraine is expecting for increasing capacity to 800 MW by the end of this year.
  • Further grid integration with ENTSO-E can provide an additional 7.7 GW of electricity capacity for the EU.
  • The main technical issues for increasing electricity export are new powerlines and installation of STATCOM or battery storage systems.
  • DTEK Group is already in active discussion with their international partner Honeywell to expand the capacity of battery storage to 20 MW by the end of 1Q23. In May 2021, DTEK Group and Honeywell successfully installed a pilot battery storage project. DTEK have unique expertise and can scale this technology.
  • Also, DTEK Group, is in discussion with Ukrainian TSO of installation STATCOMs on existing DTEK’s solar power plants and on a wind power plant that DTEK will resume construction.

Preparation for the winter season

  • Currently, Ukraine has 1.7 million t of coal in stock. According to the government's vision, the state must accumulate at least 2 million t of coal. DTEK Energy, as a coal producer, makes significant effort to achieve this aim.
  • Currently, Ukraine has 12.7 billion m3 gas in storage. According to the government's vision, the state must accumulate 19 billion m3 before 1 October. That aim is not realistic as of now but, because of drop of consumption, around 15 billion m3 could be enough for the winter season. Ukraine can, essentially, be self-sufficient and buy gas from domestic producers.

Zaporizhzhya NPP and its impact on energy system

  • Energodar is the ‘capital city’ of the Ukrainian energy industry. Before the invasion of the Russian army, about 50 000 people lived here, primarily employees of Ukraine's largest power plants, the DTEK's Zaporizhzhya TPP and the state-owned Zaporizhzhya NPP which is the largest NPP in Europe.
  • On 4 March, the city was occupied by the Russians. Now about half of the residents have left the city.
  • Since the beginning of August, the enemy has been actively shelling Energodar. Currently, Energodar has dozens of bombings every day. The Russians are attacking civilians and the Zaporizhzhya NPP.
  • In addition, the occupiers mined part of the territory of the ZNPP, drove military equipment into the two power units of the station, and fired from it at the neighbouring cities of Nikopol and Marganets.
  • These actions are real nuclear terrorism. Russians are putting at danger not only Ukraine but the whole world.
  • All calculations of Ukrainian energy system operation are based on an expectation that Zaporizhzhya NPP will produce 2 GWt (maximum capacity is 6 GWt). So, if Ukraine loses this capacity, the next several months will be a challenge for the energy system.
  • Even if Ukraine looses Zaporizhzhya NPP, there still will be enough capacity for internal needs. However, DTEK will drop the volume of exported electricity and need to consume more gas for electricity production.

Update on DTEK Group operation during war:

  • DTEK Group does everything to ensure the stability of Ukraine's energy system so that Ukrainians have light and heat in their homes now and during the winter season.
  • DTEK oil and gas keeps production on the pre-war level and expects 2 billion m3 of gas production.
  • All gas from private domestic producers goes to gas storage. Private producers are in discussion with the government and are willing to sell this gas to NAC Naftogaz for the winter season.
  • Currently, 842 Ukrainian cities and towns are deprived of electricity supply. That accounts for around 1.5 million people. The most challenging situation is in the Donetsk region. The price of maintained electricity supply is too high – another one of DTEK’s employees was killed during restoration works.
  • 69 of DTEK’s employees have been killed, another 9 are missing, 144 are injured, 1 in captivity.
  • Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, DTEK Group has allocated UAH 572 million in humanitarian aid and support to the Armed Forces and the Territorial Defence Forces.

Preventing of cyberattack on DTEK Group

  • DTEK Group is still a target for cyberattacks.
  • Though the cyberattacks are aimed at the corporate infrastructure, they were unsuccessful, and no failures occurred. There was no failure in the operation of the energy system, and the system worked without interruption.
  • DTEK's IT teamwork is in close cooperation with DTEK’s partners and services providers to explore such attacks and prevent them in the future. Significant support in this process is provided to DTEK by Microsoft.
  • There is no doubt that more attempts of cyberattacks on DTEK will be attempted in the future due to the company’s and its owner Rinat Akhmetov’s pro-Ukrainian position.

DTEK Group report on received humanitarian aid

  • Since the 24 February 2022, DTEK Group has received humanitarian and technical aid from different donors. The donors came from different countries, including the UK, Poland, France, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Czech Republic, and Estonia.
  • DTEK Group has made all necessary efforts to effectively distribute and use the received humanitarian (technical) aid in order to restore the electricity supply in regions of operations, and to support local communities and defenders of Ukraine.
  • Substantially, the provided humanitarian (technical) aid was directed to restore the electricity supply in liberated regions of Ukraine (Kyiv region).
  • However, the amount of received humanitarian aid was only enough for temporary restoration of the electricity supply, and is not suitable for long-term use. In the current situation, the long-time use will lead to accidents and power outages, especially during the winter period.
  • Kyiv region suffered the most significant damage due to the shelling and therefore, DTEK Grids is the main receiver of humanitarian (technical) aid.
  • Some part of humanitarian aid (non-technical), provided by Schneider Electric was allocated to Mykolaiv and Donetsk Regions in order to support residents and internally displaced persons, and the Ministry of Energy in order to distribute to other energy companies in Ukraine.
  • DTEK Group is making an all-out effort to be a reliable partner when it comes to implementation of help provided by the international partners.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/22082022/dtek-group-monthly-briefing-ukraines-energy-sector-during-war/

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