The quantity of electrical energy despatched by European Union international locations to Ukraine rose from 415 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2021 to 935 million kWh in 2023, or by 94 %, in response to official figures.
Ukraine, together with Moldova, accomplished the synchronization of its energy grid with the Continental European Grid in 2022 barely a month after Russia launched its invasion.
Marking the anniversary of that milestone, the European Fee stated in a latest information launch, “The synchronization has helped Ukraine cowl the deficit within the Ukrainian energy grid brought on by Russian shelling and deliberate focusing on of electrical energy infrastructure”.
Ukraine has misplaced about 10 gigawatts of technology capability because the begin of the conflict, which broke out February 2022, due to destruction or occupation, it stated.
Citing information from nationwide energy transmission operator NPC Ukrenegro, the information launch stated the quantity of energy Ukraine sourced from the EU area surged 94 % between 2021 and 2023.
“Underneath the EU-Ukraine settlement on emergency help, the overall quantity of electrical energy transferred between the 2 grids has risen by 77 % – from 13.6m kWh in 2021 to 58.53m kWh in 2023”, the Fee added.
“There has additionally been elevated competitors for Ukrainian electrical energy imports and exports to/from the EU as a direct results of the synchronization. For instance, the variety of taking part corporations in auctions has risen from a handful of merchants to roughly 40 for commerce in each instructions”.
On January 1, 2024, Ukrenegro turned a full member of the European Community of Transmission System Operators for Electrical energy (ENTSO-E) after finishing all necessities for everlasting synchronization with the EU grid on the finish of 2023.
“For the second yr of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Ukrainian energy system has been working synchronously with the European grid”, Ukrenegro chief govt Volodymyr Kudrytskyi stated in an announcement. “For NPC Ukrenergo in addition to for the entire Ukraine, the combination into ENTSO-E has turn out to be an occasion of extraordinary significance.
“We not solely joined one of many largest interconnected energy system [sic] on the planet with the best requirements of operation, but in addition obtained enormous assist when the full-scale conflict broke out. Integration means new alternatives for electrical energy exchanges, extra investments, and, above all, a brand new stage of vitality safety, which will likely be enhanced by joint efforts any more”.
ENTSO-E President Zbynek Boldis stated, “As issues have advanced, the synchronization now affords Ukraine the chance to make the absolute best use of its reserves and commerce electrical energy with the EU each in import and export instructions”.
On February 28, 2024, ENTSO-E introduced it has raised the electrical energy import restrict on Ukraine and Moldova to 550 megawatts (MW), efficient March 1. “Since June 2022, the TSOs [transmission system operators] of Continental Europe have recurrently elevated the capability which is out there for electrical energy buying and selling with Ukraine and Moldova, taking into consideration the steadiness of the facility system and safety issues”, ENTSO-E stated in a press launch on the time.
In its newest replace on vitality safety in Ukraine, the nation’s Power Ministry stated Sunday the facility provide system remained “balanced” regardless of technical disruptions and shelling.
“No scarcity of electrical energy is anticipated”, it stated in a press launch on its web site.
“For the present day, electrical energy imports are anticipated to succeed in 3,900 MWh, whereas exports are additionally anticipated to succeed in 2,000 MWh”, it added.
On March 5, 2024, the ministry, which oversees Ukrenegro, stated Ukraine achieved an electrical energy surplus, which was exported to Poland within the quantity of 246 mWh.
For Moldova, the European Fee stated within the media launch for the synchronization anniversary, “Within the coming years, the shut cooperation with Moldelectrica [Moldova’s state-owned TSO] will proceed to attain the identical compliance with the EU operational framework”.
EU Commissioner for Power Kadri Simson stated, “The synchronization of the grids 2 years in the past was not solely a vital achievement for securing vitality provides for each Ukraine and Moldova”.
“It was additionally a robust political image of our assist, and that is still the case at present”, Simson stated.
Baltic Synchronization
The Fee can also be working with the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to completely migrate the electrical energy networks of those nations, the one ones within the EU that stay synchronized with Russia and Belarus, to the Continental Europe Community.
On December 19, 2023, the Fee and the Baltic states signed a declaration reaffirming their dedication to finishing the migration by February 2025. The brand new goal date is sort of a yr sooner than what was agreed underneath a political declaration involving the three states and the Fee in 2018.
The Baltic states already signed August 2023 a declaration amongst themselves pledging to quicken the decoupling of their energy infrastructure from Russia, in a transfer prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The later declaration with the Fee additionally entails Poland. The grid migration plan for the Baltic states will use a brand new venture linking the facility provide techniques of Lithuania and Poland, known as Concord Hyperlink Interconnector.
“The three Baltic States are the final remaining EU Member States with electrical energy networks which might be nonetheless synchronized with Russia and Belarus”, the Fee stated in an announcement on the time. “Their synchronization is a strategic venture of widespread curiosity.
“Over the previous 12 years, it has obtained important political, technical, and monetary EU assist exceeding EUR 1.2 bn [$1.3 billion] value of grants”.
Concord Hyperlink is a submarine line about 330 kilometers lengthy (205.05 miles) utilizing a high-voltage direct present cable that might join Poland’s Zarnoviec substation and Ltihuania’s Darbėnai substation. The second energy interconnection between Lithuania and Poland after the LitPol venture, which has been operational since 2016, Concord Hyperlink is anticipated to be accomplished 2028.
To contact the creator, electronic mail jov.onsat@rigzone.com