DTEK names timeline and funding needed to rebuild destroyed substations

“For our company, we have set a reconstruction budget of 300 million euros by next year. Half of this amount has already been secured from our own resources. We are now turning to colleagues and partners to cover the remainder — about 150 million euros — to restore 4,000 megawatts of capacity,” he said.

The CEO added that the restored capacity would be sufficient for DTEK to get through the 2026–2027 heating season.

According to Tymchenko, restoring thermal power plants and combined heat and power plants is the fastest and least costly way to prepare for the next winter, requiring smaller investments.

“And we know how to do it. But equipment orders need to be placed now,” he said.

The CEO explained that it takes at least 10 months from the allocation of funding to the connection of equipment, making May this year a “red line” by which a clear financing and implementation plan must be in place to ensure completion before winter.

“By May, at the government level, we must fully understand: here is the list of equipment we need, here is the source of financing, and we place production orders (…) when it comes to restoring destroyed substations and generation, May is the deadline,” he said.

Overnight on Feb. 3, Russian forces attacked eight oblasts of Ukraine, striking residential buildings, combined heat and power plants, and thermal power plants with several types of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones. The facilities were operating solely in heating mode in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro.

Overnight and in the morning of Feb. 7, Russia launched another large-scale combined strike on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. The main targets were energy facilities in western oblasts of the country.

Energy facilities in eight oblasts were hit, including the Burshtyn and Dobrotvir thermal power plants, nuclear power plant substations, and 750 kV and 330 kV transmission lines. Nuclear power plants were forced to reduce generation capacity.

The Energy Ministry said that after Russian strikes on energy infrastructure, as of the morning of Feb. 11, consumers in Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts remained without electricity.

The ministry added that the situation in Kyiv and Odesa oblasts remains difficult, with energy workers operating around the clock to repair damage and stabilize power supplies.