German Galushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, said on Friday that the country would begin exporting electricity to Europe after a six-month hiatus brought on by damaging Russian missile assaults on the nation’s infrastructure.
In a statement, Galushchenko claimed that repairs had been successful since “the Ukrainian power grid had been functioning for almost two months without any restrictions on consumption and with a power reserve.”
He said that selling the extra electricity will help raise money for the restoration of the damaged and destroyed energy infrastructure.
It had been decided to export up to 400 megawatts to the electrical grid in Europe. A few times before the conflict started, Ukraine was connected to the grid.
Galushchenko said that Ukraine’s own electricity users “unquestionably” remained their priority, but the actual quantity of electricity exported would depend on their demands.
From June till October, despite the full-scale Russian invasion that began more than 13 months ago, Ukraine has continued to sell power to Moldova, an adjacent former Soviet republic, and the European Union.
At this point, focused Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure started.
The conflict caused a decrease in power output in Ukraine of about 27% in 2022.
The biggest nuclear power station in Europe, which has been under Russian control since March and is located close to Zaporizhzhya, was shut down in September.