(Reuters) – Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK will buy storage systems with total capacity of 200 megawatts from a unit of renewable energy storage provider Fluence Energy to provide back-up for six power stations, DTEK said on Monday.
Ukraine is facing an energy crisis after Russia intensified bombardments of its energy sector, knocking out about half the country’s available generating capacity and causing blackouts nationwide.
DTEK expects the power storage plants, located in different sites across Ukraine, to be operational by October – before the harsh winter season – with storage capacities ranging between 20 and 50 MW each.
In total they will supply the equivalent of two hours of power in about half the households in the capital Kyiv, DTEK said in a statement.
“Battery storage is a critical element in Ukraine’s vision to build a decentralised energy system that reduces our emissions and enhances our energy security,” the statement said.
“With advanced control modes, the battery-based storage system should also enable faster restoration of power after outages,” it added.
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi in Gdansk; Editing by Nia Williams)
