Ukraine's DTEK aims to launch 500 MW of mothballed thermal power capacity by winter

MOSCOW. Sept 21 (Interfax) - DTEK Energy, Ukraine's largest private power company, has managed to restore three of five damaged thermal generating units for the 2023/2024 heating season, and plans to demothball 500 MW of thermal capacity, Ukrainian media reported, citing DTEK executive director Dmitry Sakharuka.

"We have done everything possible in order to return damaged generating units to the energy system. There have been successes in this, we have put three units back into operation," Sakharuk said in an interview on YouTube.

However, there are two more destroyed units that the company will not manage to restore before winter begins due to extensive damage. "A great deal of time is needed in order to do this. We will work on this, this is part of our plans, but we won't manage to do them before the start of the winter period," Sakharuk said.

In light of this, the company plans to demothball 500 MW of additional thermal capacity. "This isn't cheaper than restoring the destroyed generating units, it's just faster. Equipment from the units that can't be put into operation can be moved to these units. We plan to put 500 MW back into operation," Sakharuk said.

It is difficult to assess the reliability of these units, because they were mothballed due to their technical condition, but in the current circumstances, when "every megawatt is important," they must be used as an additional resource, he said.

"We're essentially bringing in all available resources in order to get through the winter, and even such unconventional ones that we would not have thought to resort to," Sakharuk said.

The company is also working on switching units from anthracite to cannel coal, and has launched 15 new mine faces since the beginning of 2023.

"We are supplying ourselves with coal and will be able to sell some to Centrenergo if it needs some and to other consumers. In other words, I don't see a problem with coal," Sakharuk said.

DTEK said in a press release that has put another 220-MW unit back into operation after scheduled maintenance, increasing "the capacity of the energy system to 570 MW." So far the company has done repairs on 15 thermal generating units out of 19 planned for the heating season.

DTEK was formed in 2005 to manage the energy assets of Rinat Akhmetov's System Capital Management Group.