US DFC approves EUR 85 million loan to DTEK to expand energy storage
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved a loan of EUR 85 million (about USD 97.5 million at USD 1 = EUR 0.8721) to DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company. The money will go to expanding energy storage capacity, DFC and DTEK said on Wednesday. It is the largest DFC loan to Ukraine's energy sector since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
What DTEK and DFC say
DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko explained that the loan allows more funds to be put into building storage systems and other projects. The financial side matters to him, but he considers the signal even more significant: DFC is ready to back both Ukraine and DTEK. In his words, the corporation assessed the risks, understands how to manage them, and is thereby showing private investors that they should follow.
DFC chief executive Ben Black said US President Donald Trump had empowered the corporation to go ahead with the investment. He said such projects will support billions of dollars in American exports, secure critical infrastructure and resources in Ukraine, Jordan, Central Asia and Africa, and strengthen the position of US companies in some of the most important markets.
About DTEK and its storage systems
DTEK is owned by SCM Holdings, whose sole shareholder and ultimate beneficiary is Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man. Last year the company launched the country's largest energy storage complex to keep electricity supply stable amid systematic Russian missile and drone strikes on the energy sector, which have continued for more than four years of war.
Six energy storage systems have been connected to the grid in Kyiv and in Dnipropetrovsk region. They were built in partnership with US-based Fluence, a developer of energy storage technology. Their combined capacity is 400 MWh, enough to power 600,000 Ukrainian households for two hours.