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

Dear subscribers! Due to the suspension of funding for all US foreign assistance programmes for 90 days, the weekly review ‘Russian War Against Ukraine: Energy Dimension’, which used to be prepared within the framework of the USAID Energy Sector Transparency project, will be temporarily published in a limited format – as a summary of the main events in the sector.

At the same time, DiXi Group NGO has prepared a survey for subscribers to receive feedback on the priority thematic sections of the review that should be continued to be covered. This will allow the team to match the interests of readers with available resources and develop an optimal format for the weekly review during the period of suspension of USAID support.

We would like to thank our audience for their continued interest in the weekly review ‘Russia’s War on Ukraine: The Energy Dimension’. We would also like to assure you that we will continue to look for opportunities to develop this information and analytical product in order to meet the interest of our audience in a timely and high–quality manner.

Survey in English (for international readers)

April 28 – May 4

• On April 28, an enemy attack damaged the gas transmission network in the Cherkasy region, leaving about 117,000 households and 430 non-household consumers without gas supply, including large industrial and energy facilities such as CHP plants, district heating companies, and chemical and food processing companies. More than 135 specialists (45 teams) from different regions of Ukraine were engaged to eliminate the consequences of the accident and gas supply was stabilized. 
• Ukrainian engineers and construction workers are carrying out temporary repairs of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was severely damaged by a Russian drone attack earlier this year – the IAEA.
• The IAEA team at the South Ukrainian NPP received information that on the night of April 25, six drones were spotted at a distance of 1.5 km from the plant.
• The Cabinet of Ministers extended Resolution No. 1320 of December 7, 2023 to all gas producers and investors under a hydrocarbon sharing agreement. For the period of martial law to restore damaged gas storage facilities and lost gas production, the resolution allows for restoration work without the need to obtain urban planning documentation and environmental impact assessment.
• In 2025, about 1 GW of new generation is planned to be commissioned in Ukraine, 170 MW is already in operation – the Ministry of Energy.
• Commercial electricity exports fell by 2.7 times to 23.5 GWh over the week, while imports increased by 4.2 times to 48.9 thousand MWh.
• On May 1, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO–E) raised the electricity export limit for Ukraine and Moldova by 100 MW to 650 MW. The increase in the quota will help balance the power system more efficiently, avoid generation restrictions, and generate additional revenue from foreign trade.
• The monthly Base BCM (bilateral contracts market) index for May was at 3,886.9 UAH/MWh (–18.7% compared to the index in April).
• Taking into account the operation of 6 out of 9 NPP units, the average hourly price of electricity on the day–ahead market for the week (DAM Base index) increased to 4,612.3 UAH/MWh (+15.3%). The total volume of electricity sold on the Ukrainian day–ahead market increased to 474.2 GWh (+2.1%).
• The Cabinet of Ministers extended the Regulation on the imposition of public service obligations on electricity market participants until October 31, 2025. Thus, a single fixed electricity price of 4.32 UAH/kWh remains in place for individual and collective household consumers.
• The Verkhovna Rada registered draft law No. 13219, which aims to improve auctions for the allocation of support quotas for RES electricity producers and provides, among other things, for the replacement of the support mechanism from contracts for difference to a unilateral feed–in premium, as well as a reduction in the bank guarantee provided by auction participants from EUR 15 to EUR 10 per kW of installed capacity.
• Ukrenergo reached an agreement on a voluntary debt restructuring with investors holding more than 45% of its USD 825 million (6.9% p.a., maturing in 2028) sovereign–guaranteed green sustainability bonds.
• Ukrenergo scheduled the fourth special auction for ancillary services for May 27, at which the company plans to purchase 550 MW of automatic frequency restoration reserve (aFRR) for the period from December 1, 2026 to November 30, 2031.
• Over the reporting week (April 27–May 3), physical imports of gas from Hungary amounted to 54.9 mcm (+17.8% compared to the previous week), 25.4 mcm from Poland (+9.9%), and 0.7 mcm from Moldova (–52.2%).
• According to the AGSI platform, as of May 3, 1.04 bcm of gas was accumulated in Ukrainian underground gas storages(3.46% of the total working volume of storage facilities), with injections in the reporting week amounting to 214.6 mcm (1.5 times more than the previous week).
• The Supervisory Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine unanimously elected Sergii Koretsky (current director of Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta) as the new Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz. After completing formal procedures, he will take up his duties on May 14, 2025.
• During the government meeting, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that since early 2025 Ukraine has already contracted 1.5 bcm of imported natural gas; Naftogaz of Ukraine has signed an additional agreement with Poland’s Orlen to supply another 300 mcm of liquefied natural gas.
• Luxembourg will contribute EUR 10 million to the Energy Support Fund for Ukraine.