Energy sector of Ukraine: overview of the situation on 1 March 2022
Linking Ukraine to the European power system
On 28 February 2022, the Minister of Energy requested the EU energy ministers to accelerate the synchronisation of the Ukrainian unified power system with ENTSO-E. The unified power system of Ukraine should be integrated into the power grid of ENTSO-E Continental Europe in the shortest possible term. The EU energy ministers supported this at an extraordinary meeting of the EU Energy Council.
Actual state of the unified power system of Ukraine
As of 1 March 2022, Ukrainian TSO – Ukrenergo informs:
- the unified power system of Ukraine is operating in a stable autonomous mode;
- all four nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Ukraine operate in a stable mode. Some units are in the scheduled repair, another – in the reserve mode. There are no violations of safe operational conditions. Radiation, fire and environmental conditions at all NPPs and adjacent territories have not changed and are within current standards. To prevent ecological disaster in the region, the CEO of the state enterprise Energoatom turned to the International Atomic Energy Agency to intervene to prevent the presence of the occupying forces in the 30-km zone around NPPs.
- All thermal and hydroelectric power plants are operating in a normal mode.
- As a result of active hostilities, there is significant damage to distribution networks, communication channels and some high-voltage power lines. Operational repairing crews of Ukrenergo and distribution system operators work around the clock to repair damaged power lines at the earliest opportunity possible between the battles.
The accelerated synchronisation of the Ukrainian power system with the EU is considered the best way to prevent a possible blackout of Ukrainian power systems due to prolonged armed conflict.
Renewable generation
As a result of the military invasion of the Russian Federation, some renewable objects in Ukraine were damaged. According to Emergy’s statement, the wind farm in Ukraine was destroyed by a rocket part, and two of the wind turbines are likely to have been hit.
Some renewable objects were disconnected from the grid. According to the statement of DTEK RENEWABLES dated 26 February 2022, their renewable generation located in Zaporizhzhya and Dnipro regions could not generate electricity due to the damaged overhead line as a result of the hostilities. Botievska, Orlovska and Primorska wind power plants with general capacity of 500MW were utterly disconnected from the grid. The solar power plants of DTEK RENEWABLES – Trifonivska, Nikopolska, and Pokrovska are normally operating but without supplying electricity to the grid.
The actual state of the gas transmission system
The GTS Operator informs that the gas transmission system operates in emergency conditions. Due to damage to regional gas networks, the operation of the gas distribution stations (GDS) is terminated in the areas of active hostilities to prevent gas leaks and danger to the population. Currently, 5 out of 1,389 GDS remain temporarily disabled.
The actual state of oil and gas projects of the aggressor country
The Swiss company Nord Stream 2 AG, the Russian Nord Stream 2 project operator, is considering filing for bankruptcy.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation informs that Shell closed its cooperation with Gazprom and stopped constructing the gas pipeline, and Canada refuses to import Russian oil.
