Ukraine will increase electricity imports if there is shortage in grid

According to Ukrinform, this was stated by the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko during an online meeting on energy issues with the leadership of the Ministry of Energy, NPC Ukrenergo and representatives of about 50 companies that are large electricity consumers, the press service of the Ministry of Economy reports.

"Last year, the government provided industrial electricity consumers with the opportunity to import electricity and operate stably in the event of a power shortage in the power system. Such enterprises will not be subject to power supply restrictions if they are introduced. Today, this is not just a tool that businesses can use, it is an urgent need. After all, Russia has dealt a powerful blow to our energy companies - about 50% of generating capacities were lost due to the occupation and destruction during the shelling in October 2022 - March 2023. And we have not yet been able to restore them completely," Svyrydenko said.

She noted that there is a risk that this winter the enemy will continue to deliberately destroy our energy infrastructure. In addition, the load on the power system traditionally increases in winter due to increased consumption. Therefore, the likelihood of a current shortage is high, and the only way to balance the system without restricting consumers is to increase electricity imports.

Svyrydenko reminded that Ukraine has the opportunity to import electricity from neighboring countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Poland. The volume of authorized electricity imports from Europe is 1700 MW for Ukraine and Moldova.

Non-household consumers have the opportunity to import electricity. The required volume of imports to avoid outages should be 50% of the actual consumption in each billing period (hour) in October - April (heating period) and 30% in May - September, respectively. The conclusion of long-term contracts for electricity imports will allow consumers to get a better price, which may be on par with the price on the Ukrainian market or even lower.

The companies that will import electricity will not be subject to power supply restrictions if they are introduced to overcome the current deficit. Such consumers may only be subject to special emergency shutdown schedules that may be introduced to prevent a systemic failure in the integrated power system.

As reported, Ukraine's energy sector suffers from enemy attacks every day, and the threat of massive attacks has not disappeared.