Ukraine and Poland agree to push for integrated grids

Energoatom, Ukrenergo and Polenergia have signed a memorandum of understanding on a project to export electricity via European grids. Energoatom which operates all of Ukraine's nuclear power plants, said the agreement will make it possible to use all its available nuclear capacity and attract funds for the completion of the third and fourth reactors of its Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant.

Energoatom, Ukrenergo and Polenergia have signed a memorandum of understanding on a project to export electricity via European grids. Energoatom which operates all of Ukraine's nuclear power plants, said the agreement will make it possible to use all its available nuclear capacity and attract funds for the completion of the third and fourth reactors of its Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant.

Nedashkovsky, Stanislavsky and a representative of Ukrenergo at the signing ceremony (Image: Energoatom)

Ukrenergo is a Ukrainian state-run power distribution company, while Polenergia is a vertically integrated group of companies working in energy generation, trading and distribution. Polenergia is part of Kulczyk Investments, a privately-owned Polish investment company.

The agreement, signed in Kiev on 17 March, aims to implement the so-called Ukraine-European Union "energy bridge" project, launched as part of the creation of a trans-European energy network (TEN-E) and also part of the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP), which started as an EU initiative in 2008.

It was signed by Energoatom president Yuri Nedashkovsky and Polenergia vice president Grzegorz Stanislavsky.

"We see this project as one of the financial instruments needed for completion of the third and fourth units of the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant. Now we are preparing a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers to develop a feasibility study for the project," Nedashkovsky said.

Stanislavsky added that he was satisfied with the "intensification" of work between the companies and the "fast approaching" practical implementation of this large-scale project.

The economic component of the project is not its most important aspect, he added. "For me personally it is very important to be able to assist Ukraine during the difficult times it is going through. Cooperation in the energy sector will be yet more proof of the friendly relations that exist between Ukraine and Poland."

Among the challenges facing the participants in the "energy bridge Ukraine - European Union" project are the commissioning of overhead 750 kV cables from the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant to Rzeszow in Poland, Energoatom said.

To help build and finance important energy infrastructure, the EU identified a number of priority corridors under its TEN-E strategy. These corridors require urgent infrastructure development in order to connect EU countries currently isolated from European energy markets, strengthen existing cross-border interconnections, and help integrate renewable energy. BEMIP projects are part of the European Economic Recovery Plan.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News