Russian War Against Ukraine: Energy Dimension | DiXi Group Alert – weekly review 04.03.2024

February 26 – March 3

As of March 4, 390 settlements remained without electricity due to hostilities and technological disruptions.
The occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP remains without a backup power source, being completely dependent on a single 750 kV line. The occupants informed the IAEA on measures to “protect the facility”.
Winter ended without a single blackout and use of outage schedules – so the PM Denys Shmyhal. He noted such steps as the creation of a stock of backup equipment, the restoration of 90% of the main grids, the addition of over 2 GW capacity, and the increase in gas production.
As of late February 2024, over 1 million tons of coal had been accumulated in the warehouses of TPPs and CHPs, which is 236,000 tons more than planned – the Ministry of Energy. The capacity factor of NPPs reached 100%.
The CEO of Naftogaz Oleksii Chernyshov reported that Ukraine passed the winter consuming only gas of domestic production, and announced plans to increase production by SOEs to 15 bcm.
Due to a combination of factors, such as increased operation of RES and low consumption, a surplus emerged in the power system. As of March 2, 13 units of generating equipment at TPPs and CHPs were in reserve.
Exports increased more than 2 times to 43.9 GWh. On the bilateral contracts market, the Base index for March amounted to 2,409.0 UAH/MWh (-22.5%), on the day-ahead market – decreased to 2,445.5 UAH/MWh (-16.6%).
ENTSO-E has increased the permitted capacity of cross-border interconnectors for electricity exports from Ukraine and Moldova by 150 MW – to 550 MW. The first joint monthly capacity auction was held for the Ukraine/Moldova interconnection, thus completing the transition to European trading rules in all directions.
The government improved the auction model of support for renewable electricity producers. In particular, contracts for difference are introduced instead of a fixed tariff, the conditions for participation are simplified for investors.
Also, the Procedure for Issuing, Circulation and Cancellation of Guarantees of Origin of Electricity Produced from Renewable Sources and the Procedure for Determining the Environmental Value of Electricity were approved.
On March 3, the NEURC members elected Valerii Tarasyuk as Chair by secret ballot.
The EU Regulation establishing the Ukraine Facility, a four-year assistance program totaling 50 billion EUR, entered into force. In March, the government will approve the Ukraine Plan envisaging structural reforms – so the First Vice PM Yulia Svyrydenko.