Donation campaign for the Ukrainian energy sector brings over a million people in Ukraine back to the grid
As part of the donation campaign for the Ukrainian energy sector, the German-Ukrainian Energy Partnership has delivered over 15,000 urgently needed spare parts and new technologies to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Thanks to these products, more than one million people have regained access to energy that they had lost due to the destruction of heating and power plants.
Background
Heating, cooking or hot water - at times, all of this was impossible for over 10 million people in Ukraine. As a result of the Russian war of aggression, people from various regions of the country lost access to energy. As a result, they experienced one of the country's most severe energy crises.
Ukrainian society is dependent on a stable energy supply. Without energy, not only the supply of the population suffers, but also the functioning of industry and healthcare. In order to push ahead with reconstruction as quickly as possible, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy (MinEnergo) sent a request for assistance to the international community. Germany, as an important partner of Ukraine, responded to the request through the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) by setting up a donation campaign for the energy sector. Through this campaign, energy goods such as transformers, generators and solar modules are delivered to Ukraine. The donation campaign is characterised in particular by the fact that some very specific energy goods that are not currently available on the market but are urgently needed for the critical infrastructure are made available quickly and donated to Ukraine via the campaign. The donation campaign is coordinated by the German-Ukrainian Energy Partnership, which is implemented by GIZ.
Challenge and Goal
Continuous attacks and insecurity
Energy infrastructure is a major target of Russian attacks, which have caused extensive damage across the country, including disruptions to gas and heating networks and electricity supplies. The attacks on critical energy infrastructure continue to this day. Repair work is still ongoing. At the same time, the demand for technical goods remains high.
Bottlenecks in technical equipment
The Ukrainian government is unable to provide sufficient equipment to repair the destroyed energy infrastructure, which is why international assistance is required. With its donation campaign, the German-Ukrainian Energy Partnership is mobilising donations from the German private sector to support the reconstruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Action taken
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has set up a donation process on behalf of the BMWK with the support of German energy associations and companies as well as the Ukrainian non-governmental organisation „GoLOCAL“. In a joint effort, over 15,000 donations have now been mobilised and transported to Ukraine based on an emergency energy requirements list provided by the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy.
GIZ supports and coordinates the donation process from the initial contact with the donor companies to the handover in Ukraine, manages large donation projects with partners, organises coordination and information events for potential donor companies and interested organisations and communicates about successes.
Impact
Over 15,000 goods from around 100 German companies were delivered to all regions of Ukraine.
The goods include transformers, generators and solar panels, repair tools, fuses, work clothes, etc. Various players in the German private sector have participated in the donation campaign to support Ukraine. The players range from municipal energy suppliers such as Stuttgart Netze to large German energy suppliers such as Westnetz.
With these goods, Ukrainian energy companies were able to repair facilities damaged by the Russian attacks. Both power generation and transmission systems were restored, ensuring access to electricity for over a million people. In addition, the supply of electricity, heating and water was ensured, which is crucial for survival during the winter season in Ukraine.
Decentralised and renewable energy for greater resilience
Thanks to the donation campaign, renewable energy solutions such as solar panels are now being used. This approach ensures a stable energy supply and contributes to the green energy transition. This approach makes the energy system more secure and better able to withstand potential Russian attacks.
