France provided 31 shipments of aid to support Ukrainian energy workers
Ukraine's Minister of Energy, Herman Galushchenko, and the French Ambassador, Gaël Veyssière (photo: mev.gov.ua)
Ukraine has received hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid with energy equipment from France since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. This aid has been crucial in helping our country navigate the previous heating season amidst extensive attacks on energy infrastructure by the occupiers, states Ukraine's Minister of Energy, Herman Galushchenko.
During a meeting with the Ambassador of France to Ukraine, Gaël Veyssière, the official expressed gratitude to Paris for their support of Ukraine's energy sector, particularly during the previous heating season.
He noted that Ukraine has received 31 shipments of humanitarian aid from France, totaling approximately 240 tons, which includes 141 generators and other necessary energy equipment.
The head of Ukraine's Ministry of Energy also mentioned that preparations for the upcoming heating season are ongoing, including repair work on damaged facilities, efforts to increase generation capacity, and the reinforcement of physical security for energy facilities.
As emphasized by Galushchenko, the distributed generation will play a crucial role in balancing and increasing the flexibility of the energy system during the winter. Therefore, Ukraine is taking measures to decentralize electricity generation by increasing the capacity of renewable energy sources (RES) and gas turbines.
He stated that Ukraine's energy strategy for the year 2050 prioritizes the development of atomic energy, RES, and zero-carbon technologies. These will be implemented during the process of restoring and renewing the energy sector.
"Ukraine is interested in deepening cooperation with France in these relevant areas," the minister added.
In this context, Galushchenko pointed out the similarity between the Ukrainian and French energy systems, which "opens up additional opportunities for cooperation, including expert assessments."
Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities
Last autumn and winter, Russian invaders regularly conducted massive missile strikes on Ukraine, with the main target being energy infrastructure.
Due to such attacks, Ukraine's energy sector was significantly damaged, and the authorities implemented schedules of planned power outages.
Earlier, the Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko stated that Ukraine could get through another winter without power outages if there were no serious damage to the energy system.
Additionally, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, recently announced that Germany would allocate $21 million to help Ukraine prepare its energy system for possible Russian attacks during the winter.
