Ukraine PM says electricity imports from Belarus not ruled out

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says he doesn’t rule out imports of a certain share of electricity from Belarus under certain weather conditions.

The comment came during a briefing following the prime minister’s working trip to Zaporizhia region, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The prime minister said there are no agreements on electricity imports from Belarus signed at the moment. During this autumn and winter period, nuclear energy will be the core of Ukraine’s generation. In addition, Ukraine has certain coal and hydropower generation capacities; as well as gas-fired combined heat and power plants.

"This is enough to pass this heating period smoothly. When the temperature drops, additional measures will, of course, need to be taken. Additional imports from Belarus will probably be needed if the weather conditions require so," Shmygal said.

He noted that from November 1, there is a possibility to import electricity from Belarus, but the market and the companies working on it should be determined to carry out such imports. Shmyhal also said Ukraine currently expects the arrival of the five vessels carrying imported coal. In addition, the Ministry of Energy is working to increase domestic coal output.

As reported, NNEGC Energoatom, the state-owned operator of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, intends to create a power reserve for the 2021-2022 autumn-winter period and allows the reservation of small amounts of electricity coming from Belarus. On October 27, 2021, following the auction for access to interstate crossings (power imports/exports), Energoatom purchased 885 MW of capacity from Belarus for November.

Earlier, the Ministry of Energy reported that the issue of commercial power imports from Russia and Belarus for the upcoming heating season was off the table at the moment.

Photo: The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

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