Severe frosts have returned to Ukraine, necessitating an immediate acceleration of local efforts to restore heat and electricity supplies. Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the move following a meeting of the Energy Headquarters.
According to Shmyhal, the situation in the power grid remains challenging but under control. A key achievement was the completion of repairs to a high-voltage line connecting the Ukrainian and Moldovan power systems. The work was finalized at 2:00 AM today.
"This adds 500 MW of capacity to stabilize energy supplies in the South," Shmyhal noted.
The minister also highlighted the deployment of distributed generation. In the Kyiv region, new cogeneration units have already begun operations: a 1.5 MW facility was launched yesterday, with another 1 MW expected tomorrow. In total, the region gained approximately 4.5 MW of additional capacity in January.
To support businesses and households, the government has expanded financing tools. Affordable loans under the "5-7-9%" program can now be used to purchase cogeneration units, with the maximum investment loan amount increased from 150 million to 250 million hryvnias.
A new initiative for residential consumers, the "SvitloDIM" program, has also been launched.
"This provides assistance ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 UAH for apartment building co-owners to purchase generators, batteries, inverters, solar panels, and other equipment," the minister said.
An initial 800 million hryvnias has been allocated for the first phase. The pilot project is launching in Kyiv and the surrounding region before being scaled nationwide.
