EU allocates 160 million euros to prepare Ukraine’s energy system for winter

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced that the European Union will provide Ukraine with 160 million euros to strengthen its energy system, which was partly destroyed by Russian attacks, and prepare for the winter period in the face of possible new Russian missile attacks.

She noted that the EU is providing an additional €160 million for this winter, which will include €60 million in humanitarian aid, such as the arrangement of heating centres and heaters, and about €100 million for repairs and renewable energy generation.

“The proceeds of Russian assets frozen in Europe provide this amount—100 million,” von der Leyen said. “It is absolutely fair that Russia should pay for what it has destroyed.”

The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, announced a plan for EU energy assistance to Ukraine in three areas, the first of which is the repair of facilities damaged by Russian shelling.

In particular, the EU will help Ukraine repair energy facilities that cover about 15% of its consumption needs before winter approaches.

Von der Leyen reminded us that Russia’s systematic shelling of the Ukrainian energy system destroyed about half of the total generation capacity, which is comparable in scale to the combined energy systems of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

“Ukraine needs 17 GW of power for this winter in total, with 80% of its thermal power plants and a third of its hydroelectric power plants destroyed. This is where we will focus our recovery efforts to restore 2.5 GW of generation for this winter. This is about 15% of Ukraine’s needs,” the President of the European Commission said.

She reminded us that Ukraine has already received more than 10,000 generators and transformers through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism from different countries, and such assistance will continue to come. 

Von der Leyen noted that since the beginning of the full-scale war, the EU has provided about €2 billion in energy support to Ukraine, and this is a minimum estimate, as it does not take into account the cost of all the physical equipment provided.

Meanwhile, the EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, said that to support the Ukrainian energy system damaged by shelling this winter, the EU plans to increase electricity exports to Ukraine and is preparing to supply energy equipment.

In an interview with EuroPravda, Mathernova said that Ukraine will face a difficult winter, but the situation will not be catastrophic.