Groysman: Ukraine intends to increase its energy independence through nuclear power and renewable energy
Ukraine intends to increase its energy independence by increasing the electricity generation at nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Volodymyr Groysman, said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
"The development of alternative energy is in wind, water and sun. These areas can give us up to 10% of needed electricity, while today provides only 1%. We also have huge potential in the field of nuclear energy – up to 60% of electricity can be produced at nuclear power plants safely," the Prime Minister said.
He recalled that the government has already approved a plan to increase electricity production at hydropower engineering facilities which have doubled over 10 years – to about 15.5% of all electricity.
Another major challenge in the field of energy independence and energy efficiency is the reduction of energy consumption, according to Groysman. He noted that currently Ukraine consumes from two to three times more resources per person than Poland.
As reported, the share of NPPs (nuclear power plant) in the State Enterprise, Energorynok, increased in 2015 to 57.2% from 50.1% in 2014 and from 44.3% in 2013. At the same time the share of large HPPs (hydro power plant) and PSHs (pumped-storage hydroelectricity) was reduced to 4.5% from 5.3% and 7.9%, respectively, while the share of small systems is at 0.12% from 0.15% and 0.16%.
Wind power plants (WPP), over the past year produced 0.68% of total electricity, that is about the same compared to the previous year of 0.7% and almost double from 2013, 0.36%. The share of solar power plants (SPP) remains at a level of 0.29 - 0.33 % during the past three years.
In the first half of 2016, the share of nuclear power plants declines to 52.6%, while HPPs and PSHs increased to 6.6%, WPP and SPP remains at the level of about 1%. The rest of the electricity is produced in thermoelectric plants (TP) and thermal power stations (TPS).