WNA is an update on nuclear power in Ukraine indicated in February 2022, Russia launched a military offensive against Ukraine. For further information see page on the Russia-Ukraine War and Nuclear Energy.
- Ukraine is heavily dependent on nuclear energy – it has 15 reactors generating about half of its electricity.
- Ukraine had been receiving most of its nuclear services and nuclear fuel from Russia, but is reducing this dependence. In June 2022 an agreement was signed with Westinghouse that will see the company provide all fuel for the Ukrainian fleet.
- In 2021 Westinghouse was contracted to finish building a new reactor at Khmelnitsky using AP1000 components from an aborted US project.
- The government is looking to the West for both technology and investment in its nuclear plants. An agreement to build nine AP1000 reactors at established sites has been signed with Westinghouse.
Electricity sector:
Total generation (in 2020): 148.4 TWh
Generation mix:
nuclear 76.2 TWh (51%);
coal 40.1 TWh (27%);
hydro 7.6 TWh (5%);
natural gas 14.2 TWh (10%);
solar 6.0 TWh (4%);
wind 3.3 TWh (2%);
biofuels & waste 0.8 TWh.
Import/export balance: 2.4 TWh net export (2.7 TWh imports; 5.1 TWh exports).
Total consumption: 114 TWh
Per capita consumption: c. 2550 kWh in 2020.
Source: International Energy Agency and The World Bank. Data for year 2020.
Total capacity in 2019 was about 51 GWe, including:
22 GWe coal-fired,
13.8 GWe nuclear,
6.3 GWe hydroelectric
5 GWe gas,
1.9 GWe hydro and
0.8 GWe wind.
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.
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, but domestic production remains modest.
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) through to 2021. 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. In 2016 TSOs of continental Europe signed agreements with Ukrenergo and Moldelectrica for the future interconnection of power systems. In February 2022 Ukraine requested emergency synchronization to the EU grid and on 16 March the grids of Ukraine and Moldova were synchronized with the continental European network on a trial basis.
Earlier in February 2021 the government confirmed the need for three more nuclear power reactors, notably completing Khmelnitsky 3&4 and building Rivne 5 to replace the two older units there, as well as implementing the 'energy bridge' project to Poland and Hungary. In June 2022 Energoatom and Westinghouse signed an agreement to construct nine AP1000 units in Ukraine (see below).
See:
Nuclear power industry
Building further nuclear power capacity
Nuclear supply chain
Uranium resources and mining
Fuel cycle
Decommissioning & waste management
Research & development
Organization
Safety, security and non-proliferation
Notes & references
Appendices:
Related Information
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
