Ukraine is now forced to import record amounts of electricity due to the large-scale destruction of energy infrastructure caused by Russian attacks. Since October last year, about 8.5 GW of generating capacity, including thermal and hydroelectric power plants, has been damaged.
Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Oleksiy Sobolev reported that Ukraine needs about $1 billion in international assistance to overcome the current energy deficit and restore destroyed facilities. According to him, some of the damaged facilities have already been restored, but they have been attacked again.
“A lot of this has been restored, and then attacked and destroyed again, and it’s all happening again,” he said.
The minister stressed that protecting energy facilities would be much cheaper than constantly restoring them, but Ukraine lacks a sufficient number of air defense systems to effectively cover the infrastructure.
Due to the lack of its own generation, the country is forced to import a record 1.9 GW of electricity from Europe. Sobolev emphasized that the most difficult period of this winter is still ongoing, and stocks of critical equipment have actually been exhausted. Currently, funds are urgently needed to restore generation, purchase mobile substations, backup power sources and other energy equipment.
He also reported that generators with a total capacity of over 1 GW are already in operation in Ukraine, which allow supporting the operation of businesses and critical infrastructure. At the same time, during periods of severe frosts, these resources are not enough, so it is necessary to increase reserves.
Against this background, European countries have stepped up assistance to Ukraine to reduce the consequences of the Russian winter terror. Support packages have already been received from more than ten partner states, and work in this direction is ongoing.
