Ukraine forced to import energy from EU states
Ukraine had to import energy from Romania and Slovakia over the weekend to cover its consumption needs due to a lack of its own power generation capacity, state-owned national electricity company Ukrenergo said on Sunday.
The national power grid received “emergency assistance” from the energy system of Romania last Saturday, the company said, adding that it was “not a commercial import.”
The “situational quick response” was necessary due to the “insufficient overall capacity of Ukrainian power plants,” Ukrenergo revealed in a statement published on Facebook.
On Sunday, Ukraine imported energy from Slovakia throughout the day, the company said, adding, however, that the amount was “insignificant.”
The energy operator called on people to consume energy sparingly, particularly during the evening hours, citing the need to repair the national power generation system.
“All thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants of the country suffered damage to various degrees” amid the conflict with Russia, the company stated, adding that the national power generation system requires “significant repairs” rather than regular maintenance this summer.
In a separate statement, the company said the total power generation capacity in Ukraine fell by 23 Gigawatts by May 2023 compared with the same period of 2021. Ukrenergo cited both the damage inflicted to the power generation infrastructure and the fact that some former Ukrainian regions fell under Russian control as reasons.
Ukraine’s total power generation capacity in 2021 amounted to 58.2 Gigawatts, according to German statistics database Statista. The figures presented by Ukrenergo over the weekend suggest that capacity was reduced by around 40% by May 2023.
The nation’s power generation capacity took a major blow when Europe’s biggest nuclear power station – the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant – which generated about a fifth of all energy produced in Ukraine, was seized by Russian forces in February 2022. Zaporozhye Region, where it is located, voted to join Russia in a referendum later the same year.
Moscow and Kiev have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the plant ever since it came under Russian control. Last week, Kiev cut the plant off from its external energy supply. Diesel emergency power standby generators were brought online to maintain the plant’s operations.
