Ukrnafta, 2 other bidders rejected in Ukraine's first competitive tender for new power generation capacity
The commission overseeing Ukraine's first-ever competitive tender for new power generation capacity has rejected proposals from PJSC Ukrnafta and two other companies – Inzhur Energy LLC and Dalort LLC – according to reporting from the Energy Reform online portal. The commission meeting was broadcast live on the website of NPC Ukrenergo on Friday.
As explained by Commission Secretary and Ukrenergo's Director of Legal Affairs Maksym Yurkov, the bids were rejected because they failed to meet the tender's criteria. Specifically, the proposed prices exceeded the set price ceiling, and there was a lack of information regarding the minimum payment period for the service of developing new generation capacity.
The commission selected the following winners: PJSC Kryvy Rih Cement with one 9.4 MW facility and two 9.2 MW facilities in Dnipropetrovsk region (priced at EUR 400,000 per MW, VAT included); Agricultural Enterprise Agrodar with 16.1 MW in Chernihiv region and 63.2 MW in Ivano-Frankivsk region (both priced at EUR 557,100 per MW); Agroholding Radosvit with 9.2 MW in Kyiv region and three facilities totaling 13.8 MW, 40.9 MW, and 16.1 MW in Chernihiv region (also EUR 557,100 per MW); Power 1 with two 9.2 MW sites in Zakarpattia region (EUR 300,000 and EUR 400,000 per MW respectively); Magnat Energo with a 79 MW facility in Ivano-Frankivsk region (EUR 549,600 per MW); North Land with 6.9 MW in Ivano-Frankivsk region (EUR 648,000 per MW); and Stantsiya Industrialna with 25 MW in Ivano-Frankivsk region (EUR 780,000 per MW).
Rejected proposals included: PJSC Ukrnafta, offering three projects: 19.88 MW in Poltava and Cherkasy regions, and 27.24 MW in Lviv region, priced at nearly EUR 797,000 per MW (excluding VAT); Inzhur Energy, offering 50 MW in Kyiv for EUR 42 million (including VAT); and Dalort, proposing 10 MW in Kyiv region for EUR 7.95 million (including VAT).
Commenting after a briefing at the Ministry of Energy on April 9 (the day before the commission meeting), Ukrenergo CEO Oleksiy Brekht praised the quality and ambition of the submitted bids.
"Not just my personal impression, but that of my fellow commissioners as well: when we receive a proposal to build capacity at half or even a third of the maximum approved price, that's outstanding. I'd like to commend the bidders' awareness – they understand this is a promising and liquid opportunity, and they aim to earn not just from construction but from market participation," Brekht said.
He attributed the wide variation in pricing largely to differences in the technologies proposed by investors.
As previously reported, Ukrenergo is conducting the country's first-ever tender for the construction of new generating capacity. Applications were accepted until February 28, 2025, under a procedure approved by Cabinet resolution No. 677 dated July 10, 2019.
The first round of the tender covers 700 MW, divided into two zones: 500 MW in priority regions (Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Poltava, Sumy, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson regions); and 200 MW in non-priority regions (Ternopil, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and Zakarpattia regions).
All projects must be operational by December 31, 2027.
In a follow-up interview with Energy Reform, Brekht clarified that the tender is effectively for the cost of constructing one megawatt of new capacity. These costs will be reimbursed by Ukrenergo through transmission tariffs over a 10-year period following the project's commissioning. He added that the state is highly motivated to develop new capacity, and this mechanism represents a new incentive to stimulate construction – especially in wartime, when investor caution is high.