War and Energy: Weekly Review of Developments in Ukraine
The massive attack of 20 August hit several regions, while policy set key benchmarks: government targets for 2026–2027, institutional steps towards EU market integration, and the corporatisation of SkhidGZK.
Key developments of the week
- On the night of 20 August, Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on energy infrastructure. In Kyiv about 90,000 customers lost power and in Odesa region 13,000; outages were also recorded in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
- The Verkhovna Rada passed a law on the corporatisation of SkhidGZK, Ukraine's only enterprise engaged in uranium ore mining and uranium concentrate production. The next step is to merge it into NNEGC Energoatom and create a vertically integrated holding covering the entire cycle from uranium mining to electricity generation.
- The government allocated UAH 35 billion to implement the Resilience Plans. The funds are primarily intended to protect energy and critical infrastructure and to deploy backup heat sources ahead of the heating season.
- In its Programme of Action, the Cabinet named the key energy objectives for 2026–2027: commissioning at least 800 MW of gas generation (the 2026 target), repairing 8 GW of generating capacity, strengthening protection of energy facilities, building up fuel reserves, and preparing for the integration of the electricity and gas markets with the EU internal market.
- According to Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, available capacity in the power system is planned to rise from the current 15 GW to 21.4 GW by the end of 2026 through repairs, restoration and new capacity. At the same time, protection of facilities will be strengthened and distributed generation and energy storage developed.
- NEURC designated JSC Market Operator as Ukraine's first nominated electricity market operator (NEMO). This is a necessary institutional precondition for the future connection of Ukraine's day-ahead and intraday markets to European market coupling mechanisms (SDAC/SIDC).
- Germany will provide EUR 50 million to restore the Chornobyl New Safe Confinement, damaged by a Russian drone. The EBRD preliminarily estimates the total cost of restoration at about EUR 500 million; the European Commission, the United States and Norway are also ready to contribute.
- The government extended protection from forced electricity restrictions for non-household consumers to electricity purchased from distributed generation producers, including gas piston and gas turbine units. At the same time, the minimum share of consumption that must be covered by imports, own generation or distributed generation was raised from 60% to 80%.