Ukraine Racing to Build Energy Capacity Before Winter

Starting from one gigawatt in 2024, Ukraine wants to add 4 GW of gas-fired peaking generation capacity in the coming years – a move to shift away from Ukraine’s centralized energy system – as Russia’s destroyed half of Ukraine’s electricity generation in shelling this year. 

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced the plans at the opening ceremony of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin. 

Zelensky also urged European partners to provide Ukraine with equipment from decommissioned European power plants and to direct financial support to ensure the functioning of Ukraine's energy sector.

“As a result of Russian missile and drone strikes, 9 gigawatts of our capacity have already been destroyed. Considering that the peak energy consumption in Ukraine last winter was 18 gigawatts, this means that half of the simply no longer exists,” Zelensky said at the opening of the conference.

The president compared Ukraine’s need for energy with the needs of German large cities, stating they need far less than Ukraine. 

“What does 9 gigawatts mean? Berlin consumes almost 2 gigawatts. Munich consumes up to 3 gigawatts. We have already lost several times more generation capacity than the energy consumption of major cities,” he added, stating that 80 percent of thermal generation and a third of hydro generation in Ukraine has been completely destroyed by Putin.

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The Ukrainian military regularly reports that Russian forces are resorting to ‘meat assaults,’ sending wounded or poorly trained fighters into battle as cannon fodder.

Ukraine has a solution to the problem – decentralize electricity production and to make it gas-oriented. But it needs financing so that Ukraine will have the capacity to create sufficient energy for its citizens and businesses to sustain the economy. 

“Ukraine has all the natural resources for modern energy. But without your [European] financing and investments, we cannot achieve this. And it's not about grants, it's about high-profit investments for your companies. It's about a market for your equipment. It's about credit programs for your institutions. All this together with us will create a new energy foundation. At least tens of thousands of new jobs will provide both us and you with tangible economic growth," he said.

Ukraine has an urgent energy reconstruction deadline – winter 2024. 

IN the immediate perspective, Zelensky said, “We need to implement rapid and cost-effective restoration of all energy facilities that can be restored at the moment. Before winter… Within the next three to four months.”