Thread by @ukraine_world

On the challenges 🇺🇦 energy infrastructure faces before the winter season, tactical and strategic steps to confront them. UkraineWorld spoke with Volodymyr Omelchenko, Director of Energy Programmes at the Razumkov Centre.

Key points — in our brief. #UkraineWorldAnalysis 1/14

Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is currently not in a satisfactory state because of the powerful attacks that have been going on for almost a year. More than 1200 missiles and hundreds of Shahed drones were launched to attack it. 2/14

About 50% of the infrastructure related to power generation and high-voltage transmission lines belonging to the Ukrenergo company (the country’s state-owned electricity transmission system operator) was damaged or destroyed. 3/14

🇺🇦 power engineers did everything possible to make the energy system function. But it is operating now in emergency mode on insufficiently reliable temporary power schemes. According to estimates, more than 10 bln USD will be needed to fully restore it. 4/14

There are both tactical and strategic tasks. The tactical one is to prepare the energy system for the winter season with the repair and stockpiling of equipment. The strategic task is to reform the energy market and prepare investment projects. 5/14

Regarding repair works, 99% of the work is being done by energy companies. Ukrenergo is carrying out repair works at substations and power transmission lines. TPPs are repairing damaged units, and Energoatom (the national nuclear power company) is reloading nuclear fuel. 6/14

Ukraine’s energy companies are stockpiling energy resources, first and foremost coal and natural gas. The government has ordered the buildup of a 14.7 billion cubic meter reserve of natural gas in underground storage facilities by the beginning of the autumn-winter period. 7/14

Since we do not know how long the attacks will continue, Ukraine needs to create a large emergency stock of equipment, which is difficult because of the considerable cost involved. 8/14

The war has put the 🇺🇦 energy sector into significant financial trouble. There's also the matter of 🇺🇦’s energy market model, which was established even before the full-scale war, being ineffective. This model runs up huge debts, and the war has only exacerbated this. 9/14

It is necessary to improve the existing energy market model and adapt it to 🇪🇺 rules and regulations. 🇺🇦has managed to synchronize its energy system with the 🇪🇺, but only at a technical level. The integration of markets hasn’t happened yet. 10/14

🇺🇦 has declared that it is seeking to reform its energy sector with decarbonization, decentralization, demonopolization, and digitalization (developing a smart grid). The main part of this agenda will be implemented after the war. 11/14

There are positive changes happening. The construction of a biofuel power plant is underway. On May 19, the first phase of the Tiligulska wind power plant with a capacity of 114 MW was put into operation. This is a big contribution to balance the energy system. 12/14

Ukraine needs to raise funds for energy decentralization. This means constructing small solar, wind, and biofuel power plants at the local level to provide local critical infrastructure - like schools, hospitals, and security/defense facilities - with electricity. 13/14

It will be necessary to create small-scale electricity storage systems to ensure the operation of critical infrastructure facilities, small villages, and small towns. 14/14