Critical Overview
On April 7, 2022, DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko held a press briefing to discuss Ukraine’s energy security and the country’s efforts to replace Russian energy supplies. The briefing focused on generating electricity and reconstructing infrastructure to maintain the country’s energy supply in the midst of ongoing conflict. Timchenko highlighted DTEK’s contribution to Ukraine’s victory over the Russian enemy by providing electricity to critical infrastructure facilities at no cost, including healthcare facilities, military and frontier service offices, bakeries, and households.
Although DTEK supplied electricity to several facilities and regions in March, the company lost control over its Luhansk TPP, and the Okhtyrka TPP was completely destroyed due to shell attacks. Meanwhile, the Trypilska TPP of PJSC Centrenergo and Chernihiv TPP have also been under fire. Despite these challenges, DTEK has been working to restore power lines and has reconnected more than 900,000 households to the electricity grids since February 24, 2022.
DTEK power engineers are also restoring electricity supply to recently liberated settlements in the broader Kyiv region and expect to restore electricity supply in the area within the next two to three weeks. However, approximately 1.5 million households remain cut off from electricity supply, with the worst situation in the Donetsk region, particularly in Mariupol, where the city has been without heating, electricity, and gas for 35 days.
In the context of European energy security, Timchenko called on international partners to impose an absolute ban on Russian oil and gas, cut Russia off from technology supplies, and restrict its economy even further. DTEK, NJSC Naftogas, and NPC Ukrenergo have all signed an open letter to the international business community to withdraw from the Russian market, and a website with the list of international companies still operating in Russia has been launched.
To replace Russian energy sources, Timchenko suggested exporting Ukraine’s coal stock of around 1.3 million tons to the EU and increasing coal imports from Ukraine to benefit the EU, which has imposed an embargo on Russian coal. Ukraine has also started supplying 200 MW of commercial electricity to Poland, and the country’s energy system was connected to the European Energy Grids in March. Ukraine is now ready to launch commercial energy exports, with the potential to export up to 1.5 GW of electricity to the EU today and increase to 3-4 GW within a year.
Company Background
DTEK is Ukraine’s largest private investor in the energy sector, engaged in coal and natural gas extraction, as well as electricity generation from wind, solar, and thermal power plants.
Conclusion
DTEK’s efforts to maintain Ukraine’s energy supply in the midst of conflict highlight the urgent need to replace Russian energy sources to achieve European energy security. Timchenko’s call for international partners to impose an absolute ban on Russian oil and gas and cut Russia off from technology supplies is a critical step in achieving this goal. While DTEK’s contributions to Ukraine’s victory over the Russian enemy are commendable, the ongoing conflict underscores the importance of diversifying Ukraine’s energy sources to ensure a stable and secure energy supply.
