voltv.com.ua
President of state-run enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom Yuriy Nedashkovsky says that the company plans to use 13 out of 15 units at Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs) this winter.
"Two units will be undergoing scheduled repairs, and 13 units will be in operation. We have always planned this way," Nedashkovsky said.
He recalled that due to the unfinished construction of transmission lines from NPPs, 1.7 GW "will remain locked."
However, he said the company was planning to complete measures on December 22 to launch additional capacities at Khmelnytsky and Rivne NPPs.
UNIAN memo. Ukraine ranks seventh in the world in terms of the installed capacity of its nuclear power generating units. Energoatom operates four nuclear power plants in Ukraine with 15 power generating units, all with VVER-type reactors. Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, operating six power units with a total capacity of 6 GW, is Europe's largest.
Energoatom is the largest electricity producer in Ukraine, accounting for about 50% of the country's overall power output. Energoatom is responsible for the safe operation of all nuclear power plants in the country.
On October 25, 2013, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, adopted the law on the basic principles of the electricity market functioning in Ukraine, providing for an opportunity to independently select an electricity supplier by signing bilateral agreements, as well to buy necessary volumes of electricity on the spot market.
The introduction of a new market model will be gradual, with some of its provisions taking effect afterwards. The market is to start work in a pilot mode in 2016, and the full-fledged operation is to begin on July 1, 2017.