DTEK calls for power equipment support after stocktake post-bombardments

Weeks after some of the heaviest attacks on Ukrainian power infrastructure by Russian missiles and drones, DTEK has taken stock of the extent of the damage to equipment, including an inventory of what’s needed to rebuild the infrastructure.

Totalling $181 million, DTEK’s stock take comes after a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, severely damaging critical equipment and causing widespread power outages.

According to the private energy company, enemy attacks on Ukrainian power infrastructure have become much more accurate and concentrated – inflicting greater damage on vital equipment.

A week ago, three of the energy company’s thermal power plants (TPPs) were hit overnight in a missile and drone attack, damaging equipment and injuring one worker; one week before this, half of the company’s available generating capacity was destroyed in what they call the biggest Russian assault on the Ukrainian energy system since the invasion started in 2022.

Five of the six DTEK power stations that had been operating prior to this week have now sustained serious damage.

Have you read:
Can the power grid save Europe’s bid in the race to net zero?
Has Europe lost its first-mover advantage in the energy transition to the US?

Speaking to Smart Energy International, DTEK’s executive director Dmytro Sakharuk commented how, as a result of the attacks, “a lot of equipment was damaged; a lot of equipment that could not be substituted quickly is now needed.

“We’re talking about transformers, turbines, the equipment for control rooms, etc, that are needed to manage the dispatch of electricity.

“As a result of the attacks, up to 80% of our available generation capacity was destroyed or severely damaged. If we’re talking about installed capacity, it’s about 50%. We’ve now managed to understand what was damaged severely and what can be repaired. We did some tests to understand what equipment survived and are now trying to put into operation those units that were damaged the least.”

According to Sakharuk, in regions where infrastructure was severely damaged, the outages were implemented as an emergency measure to balance supply and demand.

For example, in Kharkiv yesterday, stated Sakharuk, there were approximately 250,000 people without access to power due to rolling outages, said Sakharuk, since there is no ability to produce or transfer electricity.

DTEK power equipment checklist

Commenting in a release, DTEK’s CEO Maxim Timchenko said: “We are asking for emergency supplies of energy equipment from industry partners and foreign governments and longer-term investment to build distributed generation, like windfarms, that are less vulnerable to attack.”

The full inventory list of needed equipment includes:

• 4x 300MW generators
• 2x 200MW generator
• 2x 300MW turbines
• 1x 200MW turbine
• 3x power unit control system + TCS + turbine excitation systems
• 1x 40MVA auxiliary transformers
• 6x 25MVA/32MVA auxiliary transformers
• 2x power unit transformers 250MVA 220kV/15.75kV
• 2x power unit transformers 250MVA 330kV/15.75kV
• 1x autotransformer 240MVA/330kV/220kV/Yauto/d-11
• 3x autotransformers 210MVA/400kV/330kV/Yauto/d-11
• 1x autotransformer 133MVA/400kV/220kV/Yauto/d-11
• 1x autotransformer 133MVA/330kV/220kV/Yauto/d-11
• 2x autotransformers 250MVA/330kV/150kV/Yauto/d-11
• 2x autotransformers 400MVA/330kV/150kV/Yо-12 Auto
• 1x power transformer 200000MVA/220kV
• 1x power transformer 400MVA/150kV
• 1x power transformer 250MVA/154kV/18kV/Yо/Δ-11

Beyond the inventory checklist, the company has also stated the possibility of using equipment from old power plants in Europe, built during the Soviet Union, the majority of which are now closed.

Said Sakharuk: “There are several countries where such plants can be found – the majority of them are closed and contain equipment that can be dismantled and transferred to Ukraine. Places like Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Lithuania, Estonia and other countries.

“What would definitely help is if we can access these sites to investigate what we may use…because manufacturing new equipment can take more than 12 months, depending on the type.”

Launch of an advisory council

Following Russia’s attacks, DTEK also launched a new Advisory Council, consisting of public and private sector figures to provide strategic counsel to DTEK’s CEO and senior management.

The Council will help rally global support for Ukraine’s energy sector after the attacks on DTEK infrastructure and help build back a greener and more resilient system.

The Council’s creation also expands DTEK into new markets, consisting key figures such as:

• Anders Aslund, an economist specialising in East Europe and Ukraine with specialities in macroeconomics;
• Victoria Cochrane, senior independent director of the Confederation of British Industry, specialising in compliance, quality, risk and legal;
• Pascal Lamy, former director general of the World Trade Organisation, with specialities in international trade and economics;
• Miriam Maes, senior energy sector executive, specialising in sustainability and the energy transition;
• Axel Theis, senior European executive, specialising in governance and sustainability;
• Raffaele Trombetta, former Italian ambassador to the UK and Brazil, specialising in EU and Italian affairs.

Commented Timchenko: “With this Advisory Council, DTEK will have access to world-leading experts in their respective fields. The Advisory Council will offer insights on DTEK’s broad strategy and policy direction, and specifically on the risks we face and the opportunities we can seize as the worlds of business, politics and society shift with increasing velocity.”

At the moment, says Sakharuk, the main priority for the energy company is to “start running as many units as possible. But we are talking about a very limited capacity that may be connected to the grid in April or May.”