Future KhNPP units 3, 4 capable of replacing almost 45% of output of ZNPP occupied by aggressor – Energoatom
The completion and commissioning of two power units at the Khmelnytsky NPP will compensate by 45% for the lost capacity of the Zaporizhia NPP temporarily occupied by Russian aggressors, NNEGC Energoatom has reported.
"The last time Zaporizhia NPP operated all six 1000 power units in 2021, it produced 36.114 billion kWh per year. The construction and commissioning of power units No. 3 and 4 of KhNPP will allow generating 16.226 billion kWh per year, and this approximately 45% of the highest output of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhia NPP," Energoatom said on the Telegram channel on Monday.
After the seizure of the largest Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Europe by Russian occupiers, Energoatom has been operating nine units located on territory controlled by Ukraine since September 2022. At the same time, taking into account the temporary occupation of territories, cessation of operation of large factories, etc., nuclear power plants still generate more than 50% of the country's total electricity needs, Energoatom said.
"Maintaining the volume of electricity produced by nuclear power plants and keeping prices for it in Ukraine at an acceptable level remains important for fulfilling the provisions of Ukraine's Energy Strategy for the period until 2050. Therefore, the inaccessible capacities of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhia NPP need to be replaced, and this will be facilitated by the completion of two power units at KhNPP," the company said.
As reported, the head of Energoatom, Petro Kotin, said in December that the Cabinet of Ministers would soon submit a bill on the completion of power units No. 3 and 4 of the Khmelnytsky NPP with a capacity of more than 1000 MW each to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration.
The equipment for them was supposed to be purchased in Bulgaria – reactors intended for the Belene nuclear power plant; the implementation of this project was abandoned there in 2012.
Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Haluschenko told Interfax-Ukraine after a briefing on the occasion of the transfer of gas turbines and high-voltage transformers by Japan on January 7 that work towards the purchase of equipment from Bulgaria continues.
