It has been a year since the start of russia’s barbaric full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the very beginning of moscow’s war a number of world leaders and military experts forecasted a prompt defeat for Kyiv. However, all of them underestimated the power of Ukrainian unity and bravery in the fight for freedom. The West, meanwhile, has gradually ramped up its support for Ukraine.

Ukraine’s energy security has topped international headlines over the past year while its energy facilities became the military targets and terrorism of civilian population turned out to be the main war tactic of the terrorist-country.

DTEK Group employees are on the energy frontline, preventing a tragic humanitarian catastrophe. russian aggression claimed lives of 141 DTEK Group employees – the highest price paid by the company.

On 24 February, during a regular online briefing, DTEK Group CEO Maxim Timchenko gave an overview of the operation Ukrainian energy sector amid the war and his vision of future rebuild and development of energy facilities in line with climate change and Europe’s energy security needs.

Here are the key takeaways:

DTEK Group contributions to Ukraine's energy security and business results

  • DTEK Grids: Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, DTEK’s infrastructure has been hit by over 9600 missiles. DTEK Grids’ employees have restored power supply to over 7 million families in Kyiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk regions, and provided assistance in repairing power lines in liberated Kherson region. In just 45 days, DTEK Grids’ emergency crews completely restored electricity supply to the liberated Kyiv region last spring. Nearly 10,000 kilometers of lines destroyed by shelling have been repaired.
  • DTEK Energy: Miners extracted more than 17.4 million tons of coal over the past year, ensuring energy security during the hardest winter season in the history of Ukranie’s independence. However, two of DTEK’s TPPs are now in the occupied territories.
  • DTEK Oil&Gas: In 2022 the company produced more than 2 billion cubic meters of gas, upholding the 2021 record in private gas production. In November 2022, DTEK Oil&Gas expanded by purchasing two new auction permits allowing the business to continue its strategic development.
  • DTEK Renewables: Despite the war, the team has resumed construction of a wind farm and is taking every opportunity to install wind turbines to increase electricity generation for the country. Thanks to the support of the Armed Forces, the Trifanivska SPP returned to the network.
  • Solutions: The YASNO contact center processed 3.8 million customer requests. YASNO continues to develop customer-friendly services and build a network of EV charging stations.
  • D. Trading: In January the company started to import electricity from Europe to reduce Ukraine's energy system deficit. The import of electricity from Europe aims to restore the balance in Ukraine’s power system. As of today, we are considering resume export to the EU.
  • Humanitarian aid: Since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, DTEK Group has directed 800 million UAH to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and humanitarian goals. The company bought equipment for the Ukrainian military: body armor, quadcopters, portable walkie-talkies, vehicles.
  • Since the beginning of the war, DTEK Group has provided electricity to the military, hospitals and critical infrastructure facilities in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions free of charge. Since February 24, DTEK companies have provided more than 100 critical infrastructure facilities with free electricity worth almost 350 million UAH.
  • DTEK closely cooperates with authorities, providing lighting devices, generators, and water purification systems. Together with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, DTEK Group transfers humanitarian aid to various regions of Ukraine.

EU energy market and Ukraine's role

  • Synchronization with ENTSO-E laid the necessary foundation for Ukraine's integration into the EU Energy Market this year. It means that Ukraine is already a part of the EU in terms of energy linkages.
  • Further market and regulatory integration of Ukraine into the EU market plus accelerated development of new technologies will allow Ukraine to supply "green" and "low-carbon" energy to Europe.
  • To achieve REPowerEU goals, EU would require support from reliable partners in the energy sector and Ukraine can contribute to the energy security and decarbonization of the EU
  • Ukraine provides an expansion opportunity to the saturated EU renewables markets; it is well interconnected and integrated with the EU and well-positioned to export green electrons and hydrogen. Ukraine can become the main exporter of clean energy to the EU and create the basis for Europe’s renovated energy security system.
  • Private companies will play the leading role in building a brand-new national economy with enough clean energy to export to Ukraine’s western neighbors.
  • DTEK is promoting the idea to build new generation capacities in Ukraine to achieve 30 GW of renewables by 2030. The investments could be enabled by equity guarantees provided by the EU governments and IFIs.
  • 30 GW of renewables would allow Ukraine to reach 50% of renewables in its capacity mix and 15 GW of clean energy exports to EU through power and green hydrogen.

30 by 2030 initiative – steps needed:

  • Expansion of high voltage cross-border grids is required to eliminate internal grid congestions and increase export capacities
  • Distribution grid development and modernization is necessary to absorb expected solar and wind intermittent and distributed capacities
  • Additional flexible generation (e.g. battery storage and gas-fired peakers) is needed to balance the
    system
  • Investment in electrolyser capacities and adaptation of Ukraine’s gas transportation and storage infrastructure is required for green hydrogen export
  • Supportive regulatory and policy environment are crucial to enable the development of energy transition ecosystem in Ukraine.