Denys Shmyhal spoke with journalists about the priorities for preparing for the next heating season.
First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Energy of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal held a meeting with journalists to discuss the completion of the winter period and the priorities of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine in preparing for the next heating season.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has carried out more than 5,900 attacks against Ukraine’s energy sector. The damage is significant, but the energy system has withstood the pressure. Our task now is to prepare as thoroughly as possible for the next winter,” Denys Shmyhal said.
The Minister outlined key areas of preparation for the 2026/2027 heating season.
The first priority is the restoration and protection of energy facilities. According to Denys Shmyhal, 9 GW of generation capacity has been damaged since the beginning of the heating season, with approximately 4 GW planned for restoration.
“We are deploying a new architecture of energy security: protection of critical nodes, strategic reserves, and distributed generation, where we have an ambitious goal of building an additional 1.5 GW. We plan to attract EUR 5 billion from partners in 2026 to support these needs,” the Minister emphasized.
Regarding the creation of the necessary reserves for emergency repairs, Denys Shmyhal noted that work is currently underway to obtain equipment from decommissioned European thermal power plants.
The Minister also highlighted a new approach to cooperation with partners:
“We are developing the ‘Energy Ramstein’ format and forming a unified portfolio of energy projects. We are also continuing efforts to expand electricity transmission capacity with the European Union. The plan for the next two years is to increase it to 3.5 GW,” Denys Shmyhal stated.
Another area of work is the development of joint oil and gas projects with partners, including the expansion of the Vertical Gas Corridor, the use of Ukrainian gas storage facilities, and the restoration of operations of the Odessa–Brody oil pipeline.
“This winter, Ukraine won the battle for light. We are not stopping. We are preparing the energy system for new challenges,” Denys Shmyhal emphasized.
