EU Electricity Export to Ukraine Up 94 Percent in Two Years

The amount of electricity sent by European Union countries to Ukraine rose from 415 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2021 to 935 million kWh in 2023, or by 94 percent, according to official figures.

Ukraine, along with Moldova, completed the synchronization of its power grid with the Continental European Grid in 2022 barely a month after Russia launched its invasion.

Marking the anniversary of that milestone, the European Commission said in a recent news release, “The synchronization has helped Ukraine cover the deficit in the Ukrainian power grid caused by Russian shelling and deliberate targeting of electricity infrastructure”.

Ukraine has lost about 10 gigawatts of generation capacity since the start of the war, which broke out February 2022, because of destruction or occupation, it said.

Citing data from national power transmission operator NPC Ukrenegro, the news release said the volume of power Ukraine sourced from the EU region surged 94 percent between 2021 and 2023.

“Under the EU-Ukraine agreement on emergency assistance, the total volume of electricity transferred between the two grids has risen by 77 percent - from 13.6m kWh in 2021 to 58.53m kWh in 2023”, the Commission added.

“There has also been increased competition for Ukrainian electricity imports and exports to/from the EU as a direct result of the synchronization. For example, the number of participating companies in auctions has risen from a handful of traders to roughly 40 for trade in both directions”.

On January 1, 2024, Ukrenegro became a full member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) after completing all requirements for permanent synchronization with the EU grid at the end of 2023.

“For the second year of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Ukrainian power system has been operating synchronously with the European grid”, Ukrenegro chief executive Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said in a statement. “For NPC Ukrenergo as well as for the whole Ukraine, the integration into ENTSO-E has become an event of extraordinary importance.

“We not only joined one of the largest interconnected power system [sic] in the world with the highest standards of operation, but also received huge support when the full-scale war broke out. Integration means new opportunities for electricity exchanges, more investments, and, above all, a new level of energy security, which will be enhanced by joint efforts from now on”.

ENTSO-E President Zbynek Boldis said, “As things have evolved, the synchronization now offers Ukraine the opportunity to make the best possible use of its reserves and trade electricity with the EU both in import and export directions”.

On February 28, 2024, ENTSO-E announced it has raised the electricity import limit on Ukraine and Moldova to 550 megawatts (MW), effective March 1. “Since June 2022, the TSOs [transmission system operators] of Continental Europe have regularly increased the capacity which is available for electricity trading with Ukraine and Moldova, taking into account the stability of the power system and security considerations”, ENTSO-E said in a press release at the time.

In its latest update on energy security in Ukraine, the country’s Energy Ministry said Sunday the power supply system remained “balanced” despite technical disruptions and shelling.

“No shortage of electricity is expected”, it said in a press release on its website.

“For the current day, electricity imports are expected to reach 3,900 MWh, while exports are also expected to reach 2,000 MWh”, it added.

On March 5, 2024, the ministry, which oversees Ukrenegro, said Ukraine achieved an electricity surplus, which was exported to Poland in the amount of 246 mWh.

For Moldova, the European Commission said in the media release for the synchronization anniversary, “In the coming years, the close cooperation with Moldelectrica [Moldova’s state-owned TSO] will continue to achieve the same compliance with the EU operational framework”.

EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said, “The synchronization of the grids 2 years ago was not only a very important achievement for securing energy supplies for both Ukraine and Moldova”.

“It was also a strong political symbol of our support, and that remains the case today”, Simson said.

Baltic Synchronization

The Commission is also working with the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to fully migrate the electricity networks of these nations, the only ones in the EU that remain synchronized with Russia and Belarus, to the Continental Europe Network.

On December 19, 2023, the Commission and the Baltic states signed a declaration reaffirming their commitment to completing the migration by February 2025. The new target date is nearly a year earlier than what was agreed under a political declaration involving the three states and the Commission in 2018.

The Baltic states already signed August 2023 a declaration among themselves pledging to quicken the decoupling of their power infrastructure from Russia, in a move prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The later declaration with the Commission also involves Poland. The grid migration plan for the Baltic states will use a new project linking the power supply systems of Lithuania and Poland, called Harmony Link Interconnector.

“The three Baltic States are the last remaining EU Member States with electricity networks that are still synchronized with Russia and Belarus”, the Commission said in a statement at the time. “Their synchronization is a strategic project of common interest.

“Over the past 12 years, it has received significant political, technical, and financial EU support exceeding EUR 1.2 bn [$1.3 billion] worth of grants”.

Harmony Link is a submarine line about 330 kilometers long (205.05 miles) using a high-voltage direct current cable that would connect Poland’s Zarnoviec substation and Ltihuania’s Darbėnai substation. The second power interconnection between Lithuania and Poland after the LitPol project, which has been operational since 2016, Harmony Link is expected to be completed 2028.

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