Avoid blackouts: Will low-power power plants help Ukrainians?

The creation of distributed generation began in Kiev, namely in November the first cogeneration gas piston unit with a capacity of 1.5 MW was launched. This was announced by the mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. According to him, this concept aims at the development of local resources for combined heat and electricity production in the capital and the wider use of alternative fuel sources.

“Kiev has ordered another 15 cogeneration units, which should arrive in batches within a year. Ultimately, the goal is to reach an additional total capacity of approximately 170 MW within a year,” Klitschko emphasized.

Focus asked experts whether such facilities would solve the problem of power outages in the Ukrainian energy system.

Island or distributed generation: what facilities are being built in Ukrainian cities

As the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine notes, in order for the country’s energy system to be more stable in the face of constant Russian attacks, there is a need to develop distributed generation, a system of electricity production and transmission that includes many small parts. Local energy facilities located throughout Ukraine. INSIDE Distributed generation combines various energy sources: gas piston units, gas turbines, solar panels and batteries, wind turbines, cogeneration.

“And most importantly, consumers are involved in energy production and setting up their own generation units,” the ministry adds.

But as experts say, this type of generation cannot be called distributed, but rather island or point generation due to its low power.

“It is necessary to distinguish between distributed generation – electricity generation and the installation of cogeneration platforms that can actually produce heat and electricity. Their effective operation is envisaged in a certain period of large-scale heat production.” it says in the comment Focus Yuri Korolchuk, expert at the Institute of Energy Strategies.

Important

He noted that, as in the Kiev example, we are talking about small-volume cogeneration units that only serve production purposes.

“What is 1.5 MW? This power meets the needs of not even a district, but 3-5 apartment buildings. If there is no fixed electricity, such facilities consume gas and produce their own electricity and heat. But this is a small scale thing. And it is impossible to call them distributed production. “The distributed generation system in Ukraine is still in the project phase,” the energy expert thinks.

“Island” generation: What path is Ukraine taking in hopes of providing light to the homes of Ukrainians?

In fact, as mentioned in the comment, the implementation and development of distributed generation power plants is a difficult issue, especially in the context of missile and drone attacks. Focus Energy sector analyst at Dragon Capital Denis Sakva.

“Given Russia’s attacks on centralized electricity generation and distribution systems, this type of distributed generation is vital for providing energy to critical infrastructures (water supply, sewerage, heating) in cities. However, without these three systems, large cities will not be able to function. The big question is how exactly to implement it. If everything depends on gas, in case of damage to the gas supply system (as a result of attacks), this will make such alternative power sources unsuitable for solving the problem of scarcity. So there should be diversity in fuel oil too.“, points out Denis Sakva.

According to energy experts, a distributed generation system could be a group of small thermal power plants that exist in parallel with large power plants and provide power supply in case of damage.

“Small facilities of 1.5-20 MW are actually large generators, not distributed generation. Distributed generation facilities have a capacity of 50 MW. In case of failure of a large thermal power plant, they are easily connected to the city grid. Two stations of 600 MW each, for example 1200 Equal to MW can minimally cover the needs of Kiev. However, such spare distributed production is quite expensive – from 2 million euros and is made to order, moreover, the war. after its termination and restoration of the Ukrainian system, such thermal power plants will require some maintenance, even if it is not necessary,” explained Yuriy Korolchuk.

According to him, Ukraine is now on the path to establishing the so-called “island” belt.

“I cannot say that the state has a plan to build a large network of small thermal power plants of 50-100 MW each. However, cogeneration power plants of 1.5 MW each only solve the energy shortage locally in the regions where they are installed. Therefore, they generally do not decide on the problem of electricity shortage, which will continue after the end of the war,” said the expert.

The most important problem of such small production facilities is that they cannot participate in the country’s large energy system.

“These are small islands that cannot be connected to a large energy system and cannot be controlled. Yes, they will fulfill their positive role, but unlike large power units of 50-100 MW, they will not be participants in the large system. “Such thermal power plants, which can be included and operated in the Ukrainian energy system, are not yet mentioned, because these are quite expensive projects and therefore remain at the project level,” he said. Focus.

Important

One way or another, small gas-fired power plants could be useful for cities in providing sustainable electricity to utilities, hospitals and other important infrastructure facilities. International partners and donors such as USAID are helping Ukraine create decentralized production. The agency transferred the 28 MW gas turbine unit, which the company put into operation this summer, to NNEGC Energoatom. The installation was received in February 2023, but the installation and configuration of such a station took almost a year and a half.