The restoration of Donbass after hostilities costs more than USD 1.8 billion

This estimate was made by Chairman of the State Agency for Donbass Reconstruction Vadym Chernysh in his interview with TV Channel 5.

He also added that the state has not made a full payment of destroyed buildings during the hostilities in Donbass. But it was made by the international partners. The approximate sum amounts to USD 1.2 billion for infrastructure and another USD 300 million for the restoration of peace. There is also a plan for humanitarian losses that requires other USD 316 million. Read more at http://www.ukrinform.ua

Ukraine and U.S. discussed energy security and reforms

Two countries held its fifth annual Energy Security Dialogue in Washington, DC. The United States and Ukrainian representatives discussed Ukraine’s progress in energy sector reforms, as well as the critical need to ensure security of supply through the diversification of sources and routes of natural gas.
They also discussed U.S. assistance to Ukraine’s energy sector, domestic gas and electricity production, and investment climate. Read more at http://www.ukrweekly.com

Ukraine opening Its energy market

Representatives from Ukrainian natural gas company Naftogaz participated in the first U.S.-Ukrainian Business Forum in Washington, DC to discuss Ukraine’s natural gas market and the prospects for future investment. Naftogaz signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding with Houston-based Frontera Resources to conduct feasibility studies for joint exploration and development projects in Ukraine, and importing Frontera LNG out of terminals in the country of Georgia.
Another U.S. company, Austin-based TrailStone, announced plans to enter the Ukrainian market this fall. American side expressed its appreciation of recent Ukrainian natural gas market reforms which opened the door for American businesses.   Read more at http://www.forbes.com

EU condemns Russia’s plans to stop gas transit through Ukraine by 2019

Russia's refusal to pump gas through Ukraine will change the balance in Europe, which will have a negative impact on the energy security of Europe, said European Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic. He said that if the purpose of the Turkish Stream project is to gradually empty the Ukrainian transit route, it is unacceptable for the EU, as it will change the balance of gas in Europe and put the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe in a very difficult situation.
Ukraine’s Naftogaz wants to raise the rate of transit from the current $2.70 to $5.00 per thousand cubic meters per 100 km, which is unacceptable to Russia.
Turkish Stream is intended to reduce gas transit through Ukraine. The 1,100 km pipeline that will have four lines and an annual capacity of up to 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas.
About 16 bcm will be supplied to Turkey; the remaining 47 bcm will go to a hub on the Greek - Turkish border, where the gas can be transported onwards to Europe. Read more at http://www.rt.com

Kyiv has saved over one billion Hryvnia by reducing energy consumption in municipally owned buildings

According to Anatoly Kozlenko, Director of Kyiv's Municipal Enterprise " Project Implementation Unit”, city has implemented a comprehensive energy efficiency investment programme in over 1,500 communally-owned buildings in the education, culture and health sectors, what has  reduced heating consumption by close to 350,000 Gcal  per year and provided  energy cost savings worth one billion Hryvnia.

The entire budget for this programme runs to a total of USD 27 million. The city of Kyiv has financed 37 per cent of the costs, whilst the World Bank has financed 56 per cent and Sweden has contributed seven per cent of the programme’s entire costs. The money has been used for a number of purposes, including retrofits of individual heat substations with installation of water heaters and automatic control systems, installation of heat meters, radiator reflectors and new energy-efficient windows. Read more at http://www.nefco.org/.  

 Kyiv Institutional Buildings Sector Energy Efficiency Program (KIBA) was initiated in 1995 by the State Committee of Ukraine for Energy Saving and Kyiv Municipality. Ukrainian NGO Agency for Rational Energy Use and Ecology (ARENA-ECO) in partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and with support from the U.S. Department of Energy and Agency for International Development in 1996-1998 developed technical and financial assessments for the KIBA project, as well as developed and implemented together with partners the demonstration projects in four Kyiv schools, what provided a solid base for getting co-financing from World Bank and implementation of full scale project.. The Kiev Research and Design Institute for Residential and Civil Construction (KievZNIIEP) and ARENA-ECO also assisted in the preparation of energy audit procedures, typical designs for heat substations, and procedures for monitoring and verification of energy savings

As it follows from NEFCO's publicationand World Bank’s Implementation Completion and Results Report, project results are very impressive - costs of energy savings, over 1 billion Hryvnia (at least $50 million according to historical currency exchange rates), exceeded project investments of  $27 million almost twice!

Coal production in Ukraine dropped by more than 50% in the first half of 2015

Ukrainian coal mining enterprises in January-June 2015 reduced production of raw coal by 52.2%, year-over-year, to 19.469 million tonnes. Coking coal output in the first six months of the year fell by 64%, to 4.055 million tonnes and production of power-generating coal decreased by 47.7%, to 15.414 million tonnes.

In the first half of 2015, coalmines in Donetsk region produced 6.836 million tonnes of coal (61.5% down comparing to January-June 2014), in Luhansk 1.941 million tonnes (84.6% down), Dnipropetrovsk region 9.514 million tonnes (1.9% up), Lviv region 1.041 million tonnes (20.2% up), and Volyn 137,300 tonnes (0.4% down). Read more at  interfax.com.ua

Ukraine increases natural gas import from Slovakia

Ukraine plans to import 16.5 million m3 of gas on Friday from Slovakia, up from daily imports of 13.6 million m3 so far this month, a spokesman of Ukrainian natural gas operator Ukrtransgaz  said. Ukrainian energy officials say Ukrtransgaz must store about 60 million m3 of gas per day to ensure it has enough gas to meet demand during the winter and to guarantee the transit of Russian gas to European consumers.

According to Slovak natural gas operator Eustream, Slovakia can supply to Ukraine up to 15 billion m3 of natural gas per year, Hungary – 6.3 billion m3, and Poland – 1.6 billion m3, what is enough to cover Ukrainian needs for natural gas import. Readmore at http://uaenergy.com.ua

Ukrainian environmental NGOs promote solar water heating

Youth group Ecoclub and its partners – National Ecological Center of Ukraine, and Vidrodzhennia (Renaissance) ecological organization in 2011 started the four-year Switch to the Sun project funded by the European Union.  They focused on educating local communities and distributing materials on how to build solar collectors step-by-step, as well as they bring international experts to monitor the construction.

Thanks to solar heating systems, residents of villages and small towns can have hot water round-the-clock. Sun shines through a panel that heats a water tank by up to 80 degrees Celsius in summer. Even during the winter, the high temperature is kept up to three days. The collector itself has two square meters and can heat up to nearly 200 liters of water per day. It costs around Hr 6,000-7,000 ($280-330) to make and install the collector. At least 60 collectors have been installed in Ukraine during the last three years of the project and over 200 - in Georgia. Read more at http://www.kyivpost.com/

Nuclear power -- a major source of emission-free electricity?

The are robust arguments for nuclear energy, especially in the context of climate change - nuclear fuel is among the most energy-dense fuels known to humanity, and because of its limited pollution and the ample amount of electricity it produces, nuclear energy is also the safest power source on a per-kilowatt basis.

In the U.S.,  more than 100 reactors were constructed in the 1950s, providing 20 percent of the nation's electricity and 65 percent of carbon-free generation. Opposition to new nuclear plants surged after the accident at  Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island, and new reactor construction stalled for more than 30 years.

Now fears have faded and a new generation of nuclear engineers and scientists is leading the charge, spurred by the need for low-carbon energy.

In particular, third-generation designs use passive systems to improve safety. Instead of relying on active components such as diesel generators and pumps, they rely on the natural forces of gravity, natural circulation and compressed gases to keep the core containment from overheating.

Fourth-generation reactor proposals look very different from current nuclear generators. For one thing, most avoid water altogether, instead relying on pressurized gases, molten salt or liquid metal to keep components cool. These coolants allow reactors to operate at higher temperatures and have low risks of boiling off. The fuels are also different. More efficient designs mean fourth-generation reactors can use lower-grade fuel or nuclear waste from other nuclear power plants.

“Meanwhile, wind and solar power continue to advance in performance and drop in price. Energy storage is also gaining traction on the grid, and natural gas prices are scraping record lows. In this market, the nuclear industry can't afford another hiatus from research and development if it wants to remain competitive”. Read more at  http://www.eenews.net/

EU supports improvement of radioactive waste management in Ukraine

European Commission has successfully implemented a project aimed at improving the infrastructure for radioactive waste management within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.  With the objective to support an improved capacity in analytical capability related to radioactive waste materials, the project provides both mobile and centralised laboratories for the measurement and characterisation of radioactive waste materials.

The Mobile Laboratory will be used by Ukraine’s “Central Radioactive Waste Management Enterprise” mainly for the identification, characterisation and measurement of wastes, stored at temporary sites around the Exclusion Zone.
The project with total cost of more than €6M and took just two and a half years to complete, was implemented under EC contract by Lithuanian company UAB “Lokmis”.
The Laboratories were handed over to the Ukrainian Partners during a ceremony held in Chernobyl City on the 1^st July 2015. Read more at http://eeas.europa.eu/