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

June 12 – 18

Summary

— The consequences of the Kakhovka hydropower station dam explosion by Russians are still being eliminated. According to the Head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin, it will take at least a month to repair and launch the flooded power infrastructure. There is currently a problem with oil products leakage, incl. those from the Kakhovka HPP engine room.

— As a result of shelling, the building of the Kryvyi Rih CHP, a power transmission line of the Kherson CHP were damaged. Hits were also reported on 2 critical infrastructure facilities in Nikopol (Dnipropetrovsk region) and 1 facility in the city of Svitlovodsk (Kirovohrad region), where the Kremenchuk HPP is located.

— The Russian occupiers are preventing Ukrainian personnel of the Zaporizhzhia NPP from putting Unit 5 into a “cold shutdown” state – so the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine. According to the IAEA, as of June 16, Unit 5 was in a “hot shutdown” state.

— The IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi visited Kyiv and the Zaporizhzhia NPP site. The President Zelenskyi supported the IAEA’s proposal to send a team of experts to Ukraine to assess the consequences of the Kakhovka HPP explosion and prepare proposals for specific areas of assistance. Grossi reported that water from the outlet channel of the Zaporizhzhia TPP is being supplied to ZNPP’s splash pools, which cool the six reactors and spent nuclear fuel, and also maintain a full separate cooling pond, largely offsetting evaporation. 

— Electricity demand was covered by own production, imports and emergency assistance from Romania and Poland (1,600 MWh). At the same time, as a result of the Kakhovka HPP explosion, the Dnipro HPP units were operating with
limitations. Specialists of Ukrhydroenergo, together with experts of the Ministry of Energy, are looking for technical solutions that will ensure their sustainable operation.

— In the power system weakened by enemy’s strikes, technological violations became more frequent. On June 16, consumption restrictions were applied in the industry of the Poltava region due to network damage. On June 17, due to an emergency at the substation of Ukrenergo in the Odesa region, 230,000 consumers were left without electricity supply, and on the night of June 19, the situation repeated, yet with no disconnection of consumers. Temporary power outages were reported in other regions.

— The government meeting decided to create deputy officers for recovery at 8 ministries and 12 regions. Also, the Cabinet of Ministers allocated 6.6 billion UAH from the Fund for the Elimination of Armed Aggression Consequences to implement over 150 projects in 8 regions of Ukraine, and will allocate another 4.4 billion UAH in subventions to local budgets.

— The Law was published, which transposes the provisions of the Regulation (EU) No.1227/2011 on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency (REMIT). To implement its requirements, the Regulator has developed a 2-years roadmap for the preparation and approval of key bylaws.

— Among the additional changes – the mechanism for the distribution of TSO revenues from cross-border capacity allocation auctions, extension of technical conditions for the construction of RES facilities (except of solar) for 2 years, the right to receive a feed-in tariff granted to RES facilities (except of solar), which have entered into prePPAs and commissioned the facilities within 4 years, and the reducing factor to the feed-in tariff for wind power plants put into operation from July 1, 2023.

— The Verkhovna Rada did not support the governmental draft law, which provides for the corporate reform of GTSOU and the transition to a single company model in the management of the gas transmission system. Instead, the parliament voted to finalize the alternative draft law No.9311-1.

— The NEURC approved the draft resolution on the tariff for the Oleksiivka entry point from Moldova, which would allow using one more interconnection point for gas transmission to Ukraine – both for imports and long-term use of storages.

— The Ministry of Energy and the European Commission signed a work plan for 2023 aimed at further implementing the Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Energy Partnership. Inter alia, the parties will help increase electricity trading capacity and cooperate to create conditions to support renewable electricity production, as well as to implement measures to install energy storage systems at RES facilities and modernize grids.

— Ukrnafta and the Asset Recovery and Management Agency signed asset management contracts on corporate rights in the authorized capital of companies performing activities in the Sakhalinske oil and gas condensate field and were previously arrested in criminal proceedings. 

— According to the MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the share of the shadow segment in the oil products market is 10-15%, while the estimated losses for the state budget are 5-10 billion UAH.