EU delivers thermal plant to supply power for 1 million Ukrainians

The European Commission has successfully relocated a full thermal power plant from Lithuania to Ukraine, completing its largest-ever coordinated logistical operation to date.

The complex operation, carried out over 11 months, involved 149 shipments totalling 2,399 tonnes of equipment. Among these, 40 were oversized shipments, including exceptionally heavy transformers and stators weighing around 172 tonnes each. The support of the Polish Governmental Agency for Strategic Reserves was instrumental in ensuring the complex transport of these components.

“This unprecedented transfer restores critical energy capacity and directly reinforces Ukraine’s national grid following sustained Russian attacks on its infrastructure,” says a press release by the European Commission. “The equipment has been crucial to completing emergency repairs in several parts of the country where energy infrastructure was severely damaged. It is capable of supplying power to approximately one million Ukrainians.”

This landmark operation is part of the EU’s comprehensive response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since February 2022, coordinated through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM).

To date, EU support for Ukraine’s energy sector has helped meet the needs of an estimated 9 million people, including the delivery of 9,500 power generators and 7,200 transformers via the Mechanism.

In total, the Commission has allocated over €1.2 billion for humanitarian aid programmes in Ukraine, and delivered over 160,000 tonnes of aid.

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Press release