WNA reported in mid-2020 that Ukraine is heavily dependent on nuclear energy – it has 15 reactors generating about half of its electricity. Ukraine receives most of its nuclear services and nuclear fuel from Russia, but is reducing this dependence by buying fuel from Westinghouse. In 2004, Ukraine commissioned two large new reactors. The government plans to maintain the nuclear share in electricity production to 2030, which will involve substantial new build. The government is looking to the West for both technology and investment in its nuclear plants.
Total capacity in 2017 was about 52 GWe, including 22 GWe coal-fired, 13.8 GWe nuclear, 5 GWe gas and 4.8 GWe hydro. Much of the coal-fired plant is old and with unconstrained emissions, and nearly half of it is due to close down. A new 750 kV link from Rovno to Kiev was commissioned in December 2015, and allowed the Rovno and Khmelnitski plants to operate at full power (4840 MWe gross) for the first time.
In May 2020, Energoatom announced that it would reduce production from its nuclear plants in line with reduced electricity demand during the coronavirus pandemic. Temporary closures were initially planned at: Zaporozhe 2 (21 April - 30 June); Zaporozhe 6 (10 May - 15 August); and Rovno 4 (10 May - 4 August). However, higher than expected demand meant that by mid-July, Zaporozhe 6 was running at about 90% capacity.
Energy Policy
A large share of primary energy supply in Ukraine comes from the country's uranium and substantial coal resources. The remainder is oil and gas, mostly imported from Russia, but increasingly from the European Union (EU). In 1991, due to the breakdown of the Soviet Union, the country's economy collapsed and its electricity generation declined dramatically from 296 TWh in 1990 to 170 TWh in 2000, all the decrease being from coal and gas plants. In December 2005 Ukraine and the EU signed an energy cooperation agreement which links the country more strongly to western Europe in respect to both nuclear energy and electricity supply. Ukraine has investigated developing its significant shale gas deposits, with an aim of self-sufficiency in natural gas by 2020, but 2019 production of about 21 bcm suggests it will fall short of this target.
In mid-2012 the Ukraine energy strategy to 2030 was updated, and 5000-7000 MWe of new nuclear capacity was proposed by 2030, costing some $25 billion. A major increase in electricity demand to 307 TWh per year by 2020 and 420 TWh by 2030 was envisaged, and government policy was to continue supplying half of this from nuclear power. This would have required 29.5 GWe of nuclear capacity in 2030, up from 13.8 GWe (13.1 GWe net) in 2020. The new government formed in 2014 confirmed these targets, and said that Ukraine aimed to integrate with the European power grid and gas network to make the country part of the European energy market by 2017. A further update of energy strategy in August 2017 put the nuclear share of electricity at about 50% to 2035, with hydro 13% and other renewables 25%.
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