Saturday (16 March) marked the second anniversary of the emergency synchronisation of Ukraine’s and Moldova’s electricity grid to the Continental European Network.
The synchronisation has been key in maintaining the operation of the Ukrainian network following Russia’s relentless attacks targeting Ukraine’s electricity supplies, the European Commission noted in a press release.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the volume of electricity imports to Ukraine increased by more than 94 per cent compared to 2021. The synchronisation has also helped to ensure export revenues for Ukraine by enabling commercial trade flows whenever Ukraine was in an electricity surplus.
“The synchronisation of the grids two years ago was not only a very important achievement for securing energy supplies for Ukraine and Moldova. It was also a strong political symbol of our support, and that remains the case today. Throughout the difficult two years of war in Ukraine, our cooperation with Minister Galushchenko and Ukrenergo has been seamless. I want to pay tribute to the extraordinary efforts and skills of Ukraine in keeping the system running and carrying out repairs in the face of Russia’s targeted attacks against energy infrastructure,” said Kadri Simson, Commissioner for Energy.
Two years after the emergency synchronisation, the interconnection is now permanent. At the end of 2023, the European Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) confirmed that Ukrainian power transmission system Operator Ukrenergo had complied with all the requirements necessary to enable a permanent interconnection and it became a full member of ENTSO-E.