The system operator NPC “Ukrenergo” owes the state PJSC “Centrenergo” UAH 3.2 billion for services on the balancing market and UAH 1.3 billion for the additional services market.
This was stated in an interview with Delo.ua by Vladimir Yegorov, Director General of Centrenergo.
The company hopes to return these debts in order to be able to pay off debts to other counterparties.
For example, Centrenergo’s debt to Naftogaz for the gas supplied to the company’s thermal power plants this winter is over UAH 2.7 billion. Therefore, at one time they even decided to turn off the Trypilska TPP.
The company explains that most of the debt to Naftogaz arose last year in connection with the problem of coal delivery due to the destruction of the railway infrastructure and, as a result, an increase in gas consumption. Also, due to the massive damage to generation as a result of shelling, the power units of the thermal power plant operated on the orders of Ukrenergo, electricity was sold mainly on the balancing market.
“The main reasons for the accumulation of debt to Naftogaz are the imbalance between the market prices of natural gas, which broke all historical records in 2022, and the limitation of the price of electricity (the so-called “price caps” – ED.), as well as Ukrenergo’s debt to company,” Yegorov said.
In his opinion, for the continuous passage of the next heating season, it is necessary to raise the level of price caps in the electricity markets and to increase coal production in state-owned mines as soon as possible.
Earlier, the director of energy programs at the Razumkov Center, Vladimir Omelchenko, said that solving problems with debts in the energy market should become one of the main priorities in preparation for next winter. According to him, first of all, these are debts on the balancing market, which currently amount to 14 billion hryvnias.
Source: Obozrevatel
I am a journalist who writes about economics and business. I have worked in the news industry for over 5 years, most recently as an author at Global Happenings. My work has focused on covering the economy news, and I have written extensively on topics such as unemployment rates, housing prices, and the financial crisis. I am also an avid reader and have been known to write about books that interest me.
