France's Enedis to draw up master plan of Ukrainian grids development

MOSCOW. Dec 13 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko and President of the French company Enedis Marianne Laigneau have agreed to jointly draw up a master plan of the development of Ukrainian power grids, Ukrainian media reported with reference to the Energy Ministry website.

"We are interested in using the Enedis company's experience and expertise in the development of our power grids and improving the management of distribution systems by operators," Galushchenko was quoted as saying.

Enedis is a French state-owned company and Europe's largest operator of power distribution systems.

The state-run company Ukrainian Distribution Grids, which was set up recently to manage distribution operators whose stocks are owned by the state, should seek to follow high management standards and use innovation technology and modern principles of digitalization and cybersecurity, Galushchenko said.

Laigneau said the drafting of a master plan for the development of Ukrainian power grids would take several months.

"The French company is willing to dispatch its experts to Ukraine to share its expertise in managing power grids, particularly enhancing cybersecurity, digitalizing processes, and increasing the efficiency of electricity transmission through reducing losses, as well as in the customer relations field," the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said.

Enedis has provided three shipments of equipment for the Ukrainian power sector, including generators, and plans to continue supporting Ukrainian electric specialists in repairing power infrastructure.

Galushchenko met with Laigneau during a two-day visit to France along with a Ukrainian delegation led by Prime Minister Denis Shmygal.

As reported earlier, the Ukrainian government has set up the Ukrainian Distribution Grids joint stock company, with 100% of its shares belonging to the state, to manage the state's corporate rights in regional grid operators. The government's directive dated November 29, 2022 forms Ukrainian Distribution Grids' authorized capital in the amount of 1.514 billion hryvni by transferring to it 70% of shares of the Khmelnitskoblenergo and Nikolayevoblenergo regional grid operators, whose market values are 847,782 million hryvni and 666,288 million hryvni respectively.