Ukrhydroenergo restores 500MW of over 2,000MW of lost capacity

MOSCOW. April 24 (Interfax) - Ukrhydroenergo has already restored 500 MW and is to resume another 1,500 MW of lost capacity in the second stage, Ukrainian media reported last Friday, citing the company's message on social media, which in turn quoted Natalya Nikolskaya, a member of the company's Supervisory Board, as saying.

"We are currently looking for new partners for non-standard solutions to restore critical infrastructure with increased security," Nikolskaya said during the Ukrainian Energy Transition Forum.

The capacity will be restored with the maximum possible protection of equipment, while new solutions will be introduced to further develop the hydropower sector in order to recover lost capacity and increase the company's share in the Unified Energy System (UES) of Ukraine, she said.

"It should be emphasized that despite the crisis, Ukrhydroenergo has remained profitable and intends to pursue development and rehabilitation projects," the Supervisory Board member said.

Ukrhydroenergo estimates its direct losses from the beginning of the crisis at $1 billion.

The company's hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) and hydroelectric pumped storage power plants are actively involved in the balancing market, namely in adjusting the daily schedule of loads to cover peaks and downturns and in frequency/capacity regulation. Additionally, the HPPs compensate for the lack of generating capacity in the Ukrainian energy system when unloading nuclear and thermal power units.

Ukrhydroenergo operates all major hydroelectric power plants located along the Ukrainian sections of the Dnieper and Dniester Rivers. The total installed electric capacity of the general company's HPPs is 6,208.3 MW.