SE NAEK “Energoatom” reports that on February 7, 2023, a mobile gas turbine power plant received from USAID as part of aid to the energy industry, whose facilities were damaged by Russian missile attacks, was presented in Ukraine. The event was attended by Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Galushchenko and President of Energoatom Petro Kotin, as well as US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and Deputy Administrator of USAID Isabelle Coleman.
The gas turbine mobile power plant was manufactured by General Electric in the USA and was transported by two flights from the Yuma Airport to the Rzeszów Airport (Poland). NAEK “Energoatom” organized its further transportation to Ukraine.
The gas turbine station will increase the available generating capacity by 28 MW. It will make it possible to quickly restore power supply to the NPP’s own needs in the event of a power outage. 28 MW is more than the maneuvering (which allows quick response to changes and peak load) power of one VVER-1000 nuclear power unit. Such stations can provide power to critical infrastructure facilities, which will allow the population to be supplied with electricity and heat.
The additional power of the station will help the power system, but it will not protect against blackouts – there should be many more such stations. “Energoatom” is preparing personnel to work on similar equipment in case of further supply.
The mobile power plant was installed at one of the critical infrastructure facilities of Ukraine, connected to the power grid and will start operating in the near future.
Import of electricity from the European Union
The supply of new powerful equipment is not the only measure to ensure additional generation in the energy system of Ukraine. In the last days of January, enterprises began to import energy from the European Union for their own production needs with a capacity of up to 300 MW – this was told to LIGA.net by the head of the energy committee of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Gerus.
Thanks to imports, factories and plants will be able to avoid fan shutdowns, increasing production volumes. First of all, energy is imported by enterprises for which its price is not as important as its availability. A continuous supply of electricity will not stop the production cycle, as a result of which the products would become unusable. Among the buyers of electricity from the EU are metallurgical enterprises and oil extraction plants.
Imports from the European Union are much cheaper than the operation of diesel generators: instead of UAH 20 per kWh, the company in this case pays only UAH 6 per kWh. It also pays for the distribution of electricity, but the cost of this service increases the price of problems significantly. Import helps to overcome the capacity limitations of diesel generators and obtain 30-50 MW needed by the enterprise.
The first municipal small power plant with a capacity of 1 MW was launched in Irpen. In the near future, there are 100 similar stations throughout Ukraine
