How important is nuclear energy for the supply of electricity to Ukraine? Following the attack on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine by Russian forces on Friday night, it became clear that nuclear energy was vital to the country.
23% of Ukraine’s energy supply is based on nuclear energy, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. A total of 15 nuclear reactors operate at four locations across the country. With its six reactors, the Zaporizhzhia plant on the Dnieper River is not only the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, but in fact the most powerful in all of Europe.
According to the Ukrainian nuclear regulator, the fire in Zaporizhia has been extinguished and there has been no release of radioactive material. The Russian Defense Ministry has accused Ukrainian saboteurs of attacking the plant.
The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, said in a press conference that he was ready to visit the site to check the safety of the nuclear plant himself.
Mainly fossil fuels
Fossil fuels dominate the country’s energy mix even more than nuclear energy. In 2020, the country got about 70% of its energy from coal, oil and gas, according to the statistical service of Ukraine. About 51% is produced in the country. the other half is imported.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 90% of fossil fuel reserves come from coal. This is what the “Ukraine Energy Profile” of the organization says. Ukraine has the sixth largest coal reserves in the world. Russia comes third on this list.
However, coal mining is difficult because most of the deposits are in Donbas, including the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – areas where fighting has been raging between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists since 2014.
Gas from the EU
In the case of gas, the supplier is no longer Russia, even if Russian gas pipelines cross Ukraine. Following the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Kyiv turned to gas supplies from the EU. Access to offshore gas reserves off the coast of the Crimean peninsula was lost due to its annexation to Russia.
Renewable energy sources do not yet play an important role. In 2020, the country got only about 7% of its energy from hydroelectric and wind energy, as well as from biofuels and waste incineration – but all of this is produced domestically.
Ukraine is currently connected to a common electricity grid with Russia and Belarus. Within this network, which dates back to the Soviet era, the Russian authorities control the trend and frequency.
If the EU has its way, that will soon change. “Ukraine must now become part of the European electricity grid as soon as possible,” said EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simpson of Estonia. “We have no choice.”
This article has been translated from German.
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