Engineers have linked Ukraine to an electricity grid spanning much of continental Europe, allowing the country to decouple its power system from hostile Russia, officials said Wednesday.
Belgium-based ENTSO-E, which represents dozens of transmission system operators in Europe, said the electricity grids of Ukraine and its smaller neighbor Moldova were successfully synchronized with the Continental European Power System on a trial basis.
A view of Power lines, electric power transmissions in western Ukraine on June 6, 2021.
The two countries were previously part of the Integrated Power System that also includes Russia and Belarus.
This made Ukraine dependent on Russia's grid operator despite there having been no electricity trade between the two countries for years.
"This step will give Ukraine the opportunity to receive electricity if (Russia) continues to destroy our power infrastructure, and thus to save our power system," said Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, who chairs the management board of Ukraine's grid operator Ukrenergo.
In the long, term, Ukraine could export surplus electricity generated by its nuclear power plants to the rest of Europe. »