While war has been raging in their country for almost eleven months, the Ukrainians, with this spirit of resilience that commands the respect of the whole world, are already building their electricity network of the future.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukrainian political and economic leaders share their plans with partners and allies.
To discover
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"
Victory will lead us to the reconstruction of a green, decarbonized country
", assures Oleksiy Chernisov in his perfect English.
Former Minister of Territorial Development, who exposed to
Le Figaro
the destruction of infrastructure at the start of the war, he has just been appointed head of the gas company Naftogaz.
“
Of course, he concedes, our immediate goal is to survive and win the war.
".
Since October, the Russian military has intensified its shelling of energy infrastructure.
The damage is considerable.
Rostyslav Shurma, adviser to President Zelensky, does not want to make detailed figures public.
Currently, about 70% of the population has electricity.
This leaves nearly a third of them without, with children forced to do their homework by candlelight, as the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, mentioned on Tuesday in Davos.
Wind turbines in Russian hands
Oleksiy Chernisov has set himself the goal of no longer importing gas and producing more of it in the country.
His colleague Maxim Timchenko, boss of the private energy company DTek, is betting on wind energy.
Currently, he explains, 90% of wind capacity is in Russian hands, in the occupied eastern Azov Sea region.
DTek is in the process of deploying 6 megawatt (6 MW) turbines in the southwest of the country.
Wind turbines present offer targets for Russian artillery, less convenient than massive thermal power plants.
"
It's more decentralized, more difficult to attack
", abounds the Republican representative of California Darrell Issa, fervent support of the Ukrainians, who takes part in a meeting with them in Davos.
DTek receives support from Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer.
His boss, Henrik Andersen, considers Maxim Timchenko of DTek his "
friend
", after a year 2022 he will not forget.
"
Wind power brings independence, it works, and it's feasible in Ukraine
," says Andersen.
He is convinced that Ukraine could deploy in a few years 30 gigawatts (GW) of renewable capacity, ie the power of around thirty Fessenheim-type nuclear reactors.
Rostyslav Shurma thinks that his country can go within two years from a current 3GW renewable capacity to 10GW.
"
We can buy agricultural land very quickly, speed up the connection to the network while making all the processes transparent
",
"The bulk of the money will not come until the end of the war"
The latter dreams of his country as an “energy hub”, capable of exporting electricity and hydrogen to Europe.
Since its connection to the European electricity network, it has happened to Ukraine, in the middle of the war, to export electricity.
To modernize its infrastructure, the country needs 40 billion euros of investment.
The president's adviser knows well that “
the bulk of the money will not come before the end of the war
”.
It counts on a contribution from the private sector up to 90%.
It will be necessary to have reduced corruption, still present even if it has been reduced, recognizes the American representative.
He says he is ready to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.
“
But
,” he warns,
we must not put the cart before the horse: as long as the infrastructures can be destroyed, private investors will not come
”
.
While waiting to become a carbon-free energy hub, Ukraine must win the war.
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