DTEK wants to spend EUR 2.4bn on green smart grid around Kyiv

Ukrainian private energy group DTEK intends to invest EUR 2.4 billion (USD 2.56bn) to upgrade the electricity network in the Kyiv region to not only increase the usage of renewable power but also make the grid capable of withstanding military assault.

The group’s grid operating business, DTEK Grids, is looking to raise the particular sum for the execution of a 10-year project that involves the construction of a "green-friendly" smart grid with 20,000 km of new overhead and underground cables, 250 substations, 6,000 transformers and almost 1 million smart metres. This flexible system will be designed to enable consumers to feed electricity back to the grid from their household solar panels or car batteries.

The plan requires the approval of Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and includes a three-year pilot phase across Irpin-Bucha-Borodyanka for which the company hopes to attract initial funding of EUR 145 million.

In a press statement, DTEK said that adopting a decentralised model for the grid surrounding Kyiv will ensure its continued operation even after any future attacks. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the regional electricity network, which excludes the capital itself, has suffered extensive damage on several occasions and is in need of repairs and major upgrades, the group noted.

"DTEK does not seek to only rebuild what was destroyed but to build a new power sector for Ukraine that is cleaner, innovative and more resilient. This investment will give the Kyiv region a world-class Smart Grid infrastructure that enables Ukraine’s energy transition: integrating renewable generation and preparing Ukraine to become a major clean energy hub for the European Union,” DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko stated at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.068)

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