EC supports increase in commercial power flows between Europe, Ukraine

The European Commission welcomes Ukraine's efforts to increase the capacity of interstate cross-sections for the import-export of electricity, Deputy Chairman of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič has said.

"Despite the war, Ukraine was supplying electricity to the European Union, and therefore the request to increase the capacity for imports from 700 MW and for exports from 400 MW to 1,600 MW or even 2 GW is very welcome in both directions," Šefčovič said at a joint meeting of the Ukrainian government and the European Commission in Kyiv on Thursday.

At the same time, he assured that the EC would work on this issue with all partners from the EU, including the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) and with the relevant EU Member States.

According to the European Commission deputy head, it is necessary to make sure that the expansion of capacity will take place in a way that is safe for Europe.

A very important element that we discussed and which we would like to support is the creation of stronger interconnectors with Ukraine, he said.

At the same time, Šefčovič expressed confidence that joint plans in the power industry would unite our markets and increase trade between the EU and Ukraine.

As head of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytsky noted on the air of the national telethon on Thursday, according to the company's estimates, the import limit, brought together by the Europeans for Ukraine and Moldova, can be increased by 2-2.5 times, which would reduce the shortage of electricity by 40-50%, and Ukraine advocates an increase in limits. At the same time, according to him, Europe is cautious about the increase in capacity, assessing the consequences for the European energy system.

Dmytro Sakharuk, Executive Director of DTEK Group, which imported 60 million kWh of electricity from Slovakia in January, also noted at the national marathon on Thursday that the company was gradually increasing import volumes, since there were opportunities for this and there was demand from manufacturers for such electricity to provide activity in conditions of the resource scarcity.