РНБОУ National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

Prospects for the development of hydropower in Ukraine’s UES were discussed at the meeting of the working group on overcoming threats in the energy sphere

At the meeting of the working group on overcoming threats in the energy sphere, representatives of ministries and agencies, specialists of the Staff of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine discussed the prospects for the development of hydropower in the Unified Energy System of Ukraine.

The meeting took place at the Council Staff and was chaired by President of the Ukrainian National Committee CIGRE, Honored Power Engineer of Ukraine Oleksandr Svetelik.

Director-General of PJSC “Ukrhydroenergo” Igor Syrota informed about the problematic issues of development of the hydropower industry and stressed the importance of its support at the national and regional levels.

He stressed the expediency of expanding the PHES network in Ukraine, noting that it will help meet the requirements in terms of frequency and power control for the integration of the domestic power system into the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E). According to Mr. Syrota, due to the capacity of PHESs, the voltage “gaps” at night will be reduced, NPPs and TPPs will be unloaded; a mobile emergency reserve of generating capacity will be created, as well as a reserve of regulation for connecting generation at the “green” tariff.

According to the Director-General of PJSC “Ukrhydroenergo”, the use of PHES reserve will allow regulating the load and interconnection flows in the UES of Ukraine. Also, in cooperation with 23 scientific institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, priority scientific and technical measures for the greening of hydropower have been developed.

The participants discussed issues such as the prospects for the development of Tashlyk PHES in terms of regulating the UES of Ukraine, optimizing the use of hydro resources in the power system, the development of the transmission system to ensure the introduction of high maneuverability reserves in the UES of Ukraine, and the prospects for price formation at the balancing market for stimulating the development of energy storage systems.

Director-General of “NTK ENPASELECTRO” LLC Yuriy Bondarenko pointed out that for the efficient and cost-effective use of water resources of Ukraine’s HPPs, it is important to implement the Automated Water Management System (AWMS) for all large rivers (primarily for the Dnieper and Dniester HPP cascades). This will allow clear flood planning, cutting off the peak of floods and protecting people, infrastructure, industry, agriculture from the devastating effects of spring floods and keeping ecosystems in good condition.

The participants also emphasized the importance of the role of small hydropower plants in the decentralization of energy, the need to introduce a comprehensive approach to the assessment of all hydro resources of Ukraine, regular development and publication of the scheme of hydro resources and their development; technological, economic and political support for energy projects.

Following the meeting, it was decided to address, in particular, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with proposals to develop and adopt a plan for implementing the strategy for the completion of the Dniester and Tashlyk PHESs, construction of Kaniv PHES and Kakhovka HPP-2.

The Government was also suggested, among other things, to implement the “Hydropower Development Program until 2026”, taking into account the “Priority Scientific and Technical Measures for Greening Ukraine”s Hydropower as a Component of the Energy Industry”, developed jointly by NAS of Ukraine, “Ukrhydroenergo” PJSC and the SE “NNEGC “Energoatom”; as well as together with the World Bank to work out the development and implementation of the project “Improving the efficiency of PJSC “Ukrhydroenergo” in terms of joining the Ukrainian energy system to ENTSO-E”.

Regional state administrations were suggested to include in the development programs of the regions the issues of integrated use of hydropower potential.