World Bank allocates $200 million to Ukraine for energy recovery

The World Bank announced on the allocation of a $200 million grant to Ukraine for the restoration of the country’s energy infrastructure. In the future, the grant amount may increase to $300 million due to contributions from Kyiv’s partners.

“The project will support emergency repairs of the electricity transmission and heating infrastructure through urgent procurement of critical equipment. Emergency electrical equipment includes autotransformers, transmission transformers, distribution and automatic switches, relay protection devices,” the World Bank said in a statement.

The organization emphasized that more than 50% of the energy infrastructure in Ukraine was damaged in autumn and winter, which ultimately led to serious power outages throughout the country, lack of food, heat and water.

Due to Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to repair power systems, most power plants have been reconnected to the grid, and there have been virtually no major power outages in the country’s major cities over the past month, the World Bank notes. However, significant damage to transmission substations continues to limit their capacity, leading to planned load shedding and power outages in most regions, added Antonella Bassani, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia. According to her, the restoration of the energy infrastructure is one of the key needs of Ukraine today.

Formerly the World Bank and the United Nations calculatedthat the total damage inflicted on the energy, gas and thermal infrastructure of Ukraine during the hostilities exceeded $10 billion. The organizations noted that the energy infrastructure received the most damage, its repair would cost at least $6.5 billion. Damage to nuclear power plants amounted to about $770 million .