Several important statements about Ukraine’s energy sector have been made recently. Roman Matys decided to comment on them publicly, because in conversations with foreign investors, energy supply for promising projects in Ukraine is always the first question.
“I have said before that even the situation on Ukraine’s energy market caused by Russian attacks on energy infrastructure has an upside: it means demonopolising the market and building new, better infrastructure based on the most advanced solutions.
So we have two pieces of news from the last few days. One concerns short-term strategy for the energy market, the other long-term strategy.
Short-term: power ships
The short-term goal is to supply electricity to as many consumers as possible as quickly as possible. The state energy trader, Energy Company of Ukraine (ECU), has signed a memorandum with the Turkish company Karpowership on cooperation in electricity supply and the use of floating power plants to cover Ukraine’s energy deficit. Together with national and international organisations, the companies plan to prepare a project to finance and launch 500 MW of capacity from power ships, enough for a million households. The ships would be moored off the coasts of Moldova and Romania, connected to their grids, and send electricity into Ukraine’s system via cross-border lines. With political support from these countries and proper financing, the project could be delivered fairly quickly.
Long-term: small modular reactors
As for long-term plans, an interesting statement came from Japan’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Matsuda Kuninori: Japan plans to take part in rebuilding Ukraine’s energy sector using the latest technologies, including building small modular reactors and joint hydrogen projects, where Japan has some of the best expertise in the world. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are the most advanced nuclear reactors, built on a modular principle and meeting passive nuclear safety requirements. They are more compact, mobile and safe, do not need large sites and can be installed even in hard-to-reach areas. The technology keeps improving: there are already four generations of such reactors. The fourth is still in development, and the World Nuclear Association expects some of them to enter service before 2030.
Back in 2020, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) announced closer cooperation with the United Kingdom on a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, based on a 2019 memorandum between the two countries. Britain, in turn, is actively developing small modular reactors: in 2019 Rolls-Royce received £18 million to start designing a modular system and announced plans to build 16 such reactors.
Besides these countries, China, which began building its first commercial land-based small modular reactor in July 2021, the US, Canada and even our Polish neighbours are moving ahead: the chemical company Synthos plans to install a Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor (300 MW) and received a feasibility study back in 2020.
So thanks to cooperation with Japan and other partners, Ukraine has a chance to join the most advanced, safe and clean energy projects, diversify its energy system and provide consumers with energy from non-fossil sources.”