Ukraine boosts electricity exports 54% in 9 mths
KYIV. Oct 11 (Interfax) - Ukraine increased its electricity exports 54.3% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2011 to 4.236 billion kilowatt hours, an Energy and Coal Ministry source told Interfax.
Electricity exports from the Burshtyn Energy Island to Hungary, Slovakia and Romania surged 3.8-fold to 2.102 billion kilowatt-hours. Exports to Eastern European countries surged this year because hardly any was exported to these countries in March-September 2010.
Belarus imported 1.621 billion kilowatt hours of Ukrainian electricity in the nine months, down 23.4%. Ukraine did not export any electricity to Belarus in May-June 2011 because Belarus did not have the foreign currency to pay for the imports, the ministry said. The exports resumed in July.
Moldova imported 457.6 million kilowatt hours of Ukrainian electricity in the nine months, compared with 16.9 million kWh in the same period of 2010. DTEK Power Trade, which is part of Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK, began supplying electricity to Moldova in April 2011 and aims to be supplying 30%-50% of that country's electricity by the end of 2011.
The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said exports to Russia totaled 55.5 million kWh in the nine months, a 2.8% decrease. Russia did not import Ukrainian electricity in 2010 or in January-April 2011. Exports to Russia Ukrinterenergo began exporting to Russia in May in accordance with an hourly intergovernmental trade agreement.
Poland did not import any Ukrainian electricity in January-September of 2011, nor did it import any Ukrainian electricity last year.
Ukraine's electricity exports reached 596.3 million kWh in September, up 2.9-fold year-on-year.
Ukraine increased its electricity exports 2.7% in 2010 to 4.22 billion kWh, reports have said.
DTEK has been Ukraine's largest electricity exporter since the beginning of 2011. It plans to increase exports 3.3-fold to 4 billion kWh in 2011. It increased exports 8.4-fold year-on-year in H1 2011 to 2.138 million kWh.
State-owned company Ukrinterenergo has also exported electricity in 2011.