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Energy in Ukraine is mainly from gas and nuclear, followed by oil and coal.[1] Ukraine has a diversified energy mix, and no fuel takes up more than a third of the country’s energy sources. Most gas and oil is imported, but since 2015 energy policy has prioritised diversifying energy supply.[1]
The coal industry has been disrupted by war,[2] and as of 2024 over 70% of electricity generation is nuclear.[3] The largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, is located in Ukraine. Fossil fuel subsidies were USD 1.6 billion in 2021.[4] Until the 2010s all of Ukraine's nuclear fuel came from Russia, but now most does not.[5]
Ukraine’s gas network has much storage, which can be useful for storing Europe's gas to even out supply and demand,[6] and it formerly transited much Russian natural gas to Europe but that agreement ends at the end of 2024.[7] Some energy infrastructure was destroyed in the Russo-Ukrainian War,[8][9] but wind farms and solar power are thought to be resilient because they are distributed.[10] An energy strategy to 2050 was adopted in 2023 but has not yet been published.[11]
In 2011, Ukraine joined the European Energy Community, however there has been slow progress on implementing European energy regulations.[12]
Ukraine extracts about 20 billion cubic meters of fossil gas each year, and since 2022 this has almost met demand.[13] Ukraine has been estimated to possess natural gas reserves of over 670 billion cubic meters (in 2022),[14] and in 2018 was ranked 26th among countries with proved reserves of natural gas.[15] In 2021, Ukraine produced 19.8 billion cubic meters (bcm or Gm3) of natural gas. To satisfy domestic demand of 27.3 bcm that year, Ukraine relied on gas imports (2.6 bcm) and withdrawal from underground storage (4.9 bcm). Winter demand can reach 150 mcm per day.[16]
During Soviet times, Ukraine produced a record of 68.7 bcm in 1976. At the time of independence in 1991, production was at 26.6 bcm, and fell in the 1990s to about 18 bcm. Since the mid-2000s, production has stabilised between 20 and 21 bcm.[17] Over 70% of domestic gas production is extracted by UkrGasVydobuvannya,[18] a subsidiary of the state-owned company Naftogaz. Private gas production companies in Ukraine are DTEK, Ukrnaftoburinnya, Burisma, Smart Energy, Poltava Petroleum Company, Geo Alliance Group, and KUB-GAS.[19]
Ukraine stopped buying gas from Russia in November 2015 to reduce gas dependence after the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war,[20] but instead buys it indirectly from traders in Western Europe as part of the Russian gas that transits through Ukraine.[16] The contract to transit Russian gas expires at the end of 2024.[21]In 2022 almost a fifth of total energy supply in Ukraine was from oil, and most energy imports were oil products such as gasoline and diesel.[22] The country used to produce its own oil.[23] Strategic reserves of oil and products were set up after 2023 to help with energy security.[24]
Products from Lukoil have been banned from transiting the country,[25] except to Hungary.[26] This goes through the Druzhba pipeline.[27] Excise duty on diesel and gasoline was increased in 2024.[28] The Odesa–Brody pipeline is not being used as of 2023.[29] Refineries, such as Kremenchuk were destroyed or shutdown in 2022 in the Russo-Ukrainian war.[30]
Formerly supplied from Russia and Belarus, gasoline and diesel now come from ports in Poland and Romania.[31]
Coal mining has historically been an important industry in Ukraine. Although the industry is often associated with the coal-rich Donets basin in the east of the country, other coal mining regions include the Lviv-Volhynian basin and the Dnieper brown coal mining basin. The Donets basin is Ukraine's most developed and largest coal mining region.
Ukraine was in 2013 the third largest coal producer in Europe. In 1976, national production was 218 million metric tonnes. By 2016, production had dropped to 41 million metric tonnes. The Donets Black Coal Basin in eastern Ukraine, with 90% of the nation's reserves, suffers from three connected problems: (1) mines are not profitable enough to sustain capital investment, resulting in aging mining equipment and processes, (2) the government, taking advice from the International Monetary Fund, has discontinued $600 million annual mining subsidies, and (3) the Ukrainian government refuses to buy from mines controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.
The electricity sector in Ukraine is an important part of energy in Ukraine. Most electricity generation is nuclear.[32] The bulk of Energoatom output is sold to the government's "guaranteed buyer" to keep prices more stable for domestic customers.[33][34] Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Until the 2010s all of Ukraine's nuclear fuel came from Russia, but now most does not.[35]
Some electricity infrastructure was destroyed in the Russo-Ukrainian War,[36][37] but wind farms and solar power are thought to be resilient because they are distributed.[38] As of 2024 about 1.7 GW can be imported from other European countries and it is hoped to increase this interconnection to 2 GW, but that will not be enough to cover peak demand.[32][39] Many small gas-turbine generators are being installed to reduce the blackouts being caused by Russian attacks.[39]
District heating has been attacked. In 2024 the International Energy Agency (IEA) wrote about heat supply to Ukraine’s major cities. “Most attacks on heating infrastructure have occurred in regions close to the front lines. The Kharkiv region is now without large-scale heat generating capacity and other frontline regions – particularly Chernihiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Mykolaiv – have suffered severe damage to their heat generation capacities. Heat supply is also at risk in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.”[44]
In 2024 the IEA recommended engaging consumers in energy saving and demand response, while continuing investments in energy efficiency. They said that “a social tariff that safeguards a certain volume of consumption at subsidised rates, after which consumers pay a higher price, would help to incentivise efficient practices and investments, supported by public information campaigns that advise on energy efficiency measures for immediate impact as well as longer-term gains. Lowering the default temperature for district heating can also provide quick savings.”[44]
Ukraine signed a loan agreement in-principle for $3.65 billion with the China Development Bank in 2012, during President Viktor Yanukovich's term of office, contingent on the development of agreed projects in the coal and gas sectors. However, by 2017 Ukraine had not agreed any suitable projects due to a "lack of convergence in the positions of [Uglesintezgaz] and the energy ministry".[45] Elementum Energy Ltd owns the most power plants.[46]
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In the winter of 2022-23 Russia targeted switchyards and transformers, but the following year they concentrated on power plants perhaps because they are harder to protect and take longer to repair.[10]
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