Ukrenergo: new nuclear generation is needed, but not nine power units

Transmission system operator Ukrenergo supports the construction of new nuclear generation in Ukraine, but considers the plans announced by Energoatom excessive. This was stated by Vitaliy Zaichenko , Chairman of the Board of the company, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine .

"We need nuclear power. But nine units are probably too many," he said .

He explained that with such a number of units, the installed capacity utilization rate will drop to 50%, while Energoatom had assumed a rate of 96-99% in its calculations. With such a low coefficient, the project will be economically unprofitable, Zaichenko said .

Ukrenergo believes that the state should stimulate investments in different types of generation to make the system "balanced and without distortions".

"We need to build semi-peak generation, which is thermal generation, but environmentally friendly. We need to build basic generation because we have lost the Zaporizhzhia NPP. We need to develop energy storage – 1.5 GW, preferably together with solar generation. And we need to significantly increase wind power generation," he said .

"It would be nice to launch another 2 GW [of distributed generation]. I say this "at the moment" – taking into account the current level of generation losses," added the Chairman of the Board of Ukrenergo.

• According to the decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and memorandums signed between Energoatom and Westinghouse Electric Company, Ukraine plans to build nine power units using the American AR1000 technology .
• The first two of them will be built at the Khmelnytsky NPP site, one at the Rivne NPP, and two at the South Ukrainian NPP. Another four are to be built "at a new promising site" – Chyhyryn NPP .
• In addition, Energoatom wants to complete KhNPP-3 and KhNPP-4 using Soviet VVER-1000 technology.