Ukraine needs to expand electricity imports from EU - PM Shmyhal

The prime minister announced this during a joint meeting of the Government and European Commission in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Regarding energy issues, we hope to intensify our cooperation on the restoration and transformation of Ukraine’s energy sector. Today we are talking about the need to expand the possibilities of electricity imports into Ukraine to 2 GW, support projects on the decentralization of our energy system, for example, to start a large-scale program of solar energy generation by Ukrainian households and communities," PM said.

Shmyhal added that in the field of energy, Ukraine intends to expand the capacity of networks connecting it to the EU countries, coordinate the issue of gas supply security, participate in joint gas purchases, and strengthen work for the implementation of the European Green Deal.

As reported, on December 13, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine needs to import electricity from EU countries in the amount of up to 2 GW worth about EUR 800 million at current prices in the current winter’s heating period.

On January 3, the Ministry of Energy reported that the import of electricity is one of the tools to reduce the deficit of generating capacity in Ukraine’s power system, which arose as a result of systematic Russian strikes targeting energy facilities, starting from October 2022.

As of January 3, agreed commercial flows between EU countries and Ukraine (together with Moldova) amounted to 0.7 GW in night hours and 0.6 GW during the day. These volumes are not enough to fully cover the capacity deficit in the evening peak hours, but    imports will significantly reduce the volume of the imbalance.