In early February, five Russian ballistic missiles effectively destroyed the Darnitsa Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP), one of the capital's key heating hubs.
Collage: Andriy Kalistratenko
The station completely stopped operating, and more than 1100 apartment buildings, more than 100 schools and kindergartens, and 18 hospitals were left without heat until at least the end of the heating season, EP writes.
Immediately after the shelling, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that the plant would need two months to be restored. Since then, the mayor himself, along with Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal , have repeatedly come to take photos of the plant's ruins.
Dozens of foreign diplomats will also be brought here: from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to European Council President António Coste and the heads of several European countries and governments.
More than a month has passed since then, and Kyiv residents have seen numerous photos of embarrassed politicians and heard numerous promises of assistance from donors, but there is still no clear and understandable answer to key questions.
Who plans to restore the station, at what cost, and in what timeframe, and should residents of the Darnitsky and Dniprovsky districts expect heat to return at least until next winter?
Who is responsible for this?. About Darnitskaya CHPP
A series of massive Russian attacks in late December and early January knocked out the capital's "big ring" of power generation, causing a full-blown energy collapse in Kyiv. The affected plants included CHPP-5, CHPP-6, and the Darnytsia CHPP. These three giants had supplied heat and, to a significant extent, electricity to much of the capital for decades.
Following the attacks, approximately six thousand apartment buildings (out of a total of 11 thousand) were simultaneously left without heating, and the situation was traditionally most difficult on the capital's Left Bank – in the Desnyansky, Dniprovsky, and Darnytsky districts.
The aftermath of the Russian shelling of the Darnitsa Thermal Power Plant // Photo: Getty Images
Darnitskaya Thermal Power Plant
While the situation at the fifth and sixth CHP plants, owned by the Kyiv municipality, was resolved more or less quickly, customers of the Darnitsa CHP were immediately warned: they shouldn't expect their heat to return until at least the end of the heating season.
The fact is that, unlike the first two, the Darnytsia Thermal Power Plant is owned by a private company, Euroreconstruction LLC, which is associated with businessman and former MP Anatoliy Shkriblyak . This very status could create problems or at least delay its future restoration.
According to sources in the energy industry, after the shelling, Shkriblyak "wasn't thrilled with the idea of funding the complete restoration of the thermal power plant at his own expense ." This was especially true given the risk of further strikes, which could wipe out all the investments and results of the large-scale work overnight.
"The situation with CHPP-5 and CHPP-6 is also complicated, but at least it's clear who's responsible, since the city of Kyiv is the de facto owner. They immediately began preparing restoration plans and seeking funding. The scope of work is colossal, but who bears responsibility is clear to everyone. Regarding the Darnytsia CHPP, there are significantly more questions ," notes an EP source in parliament involved in energy policymaking.
Another EP source in the Cabinet of Ministers confirms that Shkriblyak is allegedly not prepared to fully finance the station's restoration at his own expense.
According to him, the explanation from Darnytsia CHPP representatives is quite pragmatic: the company lacks the necessary resources. "The company is in debt to Naftogaz, and a number of financial disputes with the city are ongoing—these issues have been litigated in court for years ," he adds.
How much money is needed for restoration and where can I get it?
To find answers to these questions, EP submitted official inquiries to all parties involved. The inquiries were sent to representatives of the Darnytsia Thermal Power Plant, the city government, the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development, and the Ministry of Energy.
Of all the departments and companies listed above, only Shmygal's department, which, incidentally, personally visited the station more than anyone else, decided not to respond.
The editors requested clear and practical explanations: whether the station's restoration is planned, when, what the likely cost will be, and who exactly will finance the work.
In fact, the only question to which a definitive answer was possible concerned restoration plans. Without exception, all respondents assured that the Darnytsia CHPP would be restored to operation. However, no one had a clear position regarding the budget, funding sources, or division of responsibilities.
How much might restoration cost? There's no official estimate publicly available, and no figures were provided in responses to inquiries. According to EP sources, two rough estimates have been floated in high-level offices.
A full restoration of the plant is expected to cost approximately 4 billion hryvnias. This includes major repairs, replacement of critically damaged equipment, and returning the CHP plant to full operation, including the ability to generate electricity.
Partial restoration of individual components, which will allow the station to operate in a limited mode, is estimated at approximately 140-150 million UAH.
According to EP, the private owner is willing to invest the remaining amount himself. He calls the investment of several billion hryvnias for the complete restoration of the station prohibitive.
What are the possible future scenarios?
According to industry experts, it is technically possible to restore the minimum required heat generation before the start of the new heating season. There are at least 7-8 months to do so.
However, it's important to decide on the financing model as soon as possible and determine whether the responsibility will fall entirely on the CHP plant's shareholder or whether the state can provide partial financial or equipment assistance. No such decision has been made yet. According to EP, discussions are currently underway between the asset owner, the government, and the Kyiv authorities.
"Right now, no one has any idea how this will be restored. The owner has no intention of fully restoring it. And all this talk by Klitschko about restoration in two months is most likely being used to distract from the idea of taking the station under state control and having Naftogaz or the Kyiv City State Administration carry out the work."
"As far as I know, there are no ready-made solutions yet. It's still unclear who exactly is funding this, through what mechanism, or how much the banquet will cost ," says EP's source.
In general, there are currently three theoretical options for restoring the Darnitsa Thermal Power Plant.
The first is that Shkriblyak restores everything himself. This scenario currently seems unlikely due to the amount of funds the plant's owner is allegedly unwilling to raise on his own.
The second is when the state or city enters the project. This could involve a temporary transfer of the asset to the state for management, a forced buyout of shares, or nationalization.
Third , the owner covers part of the restoration at his own expense, the rest is provided by the state in the form of funding or equipment.
Regarding the latter, Shmyhal has repeatedly stated that Ukraine should soon receive equipment from six European combined heat and power plants. Ukrainian specialists are already inspecting the relevant equipment in at least six EU countries. The equipment is expected to be donated by Finland, Germany, Austria, Latvia, Croatia, and France.
A similar practice has been used before, with individual EU power plants being dismantled and transported to Ukraine. But the question remains: can such equipment be installed at the privately owned Darnytsia Thermal Power Plant?
Here again, we run into the need to develop a legal framework. This could be a separate decision by the government or parliament.
"The problem is that any official who signs a document allocating budget funds or transferring equipment for the restoration of a private asset automatically finds themselves at risk. Without a clear legal framework, they are guaranteed to face searches and criminal charges in the future."
If the equipment is transferred from Europe, it will most likely be registered to the state. However, no one has yet publicly explained the legal structure for integrating this into a private asset," states a source in the energy sector.
"We mustn't forget that private owners also likely have their own vision and expectations regarding the state's role. And that's a separate scenario that will have to be taken into account. But that, too, hasn't been publicly announced yet. I haven't heard a final decision on the Darnytsia CHPP. The issue is being discussed, but there's no clear financing model yet ," says another energy market source.
Is there an alternative to restoring the CHPP? Who will restore the Darnytsia CHPP?
The feasibility of fully restoring combined heat and power plants has recently been actively debated among officials and industry experts. This idea has both supporters and opponents.
Some experts believe that the focus should be on a new energy system model with distributed generation, cogeneration units, and local boiler houses. However, even proponents of this approach acknowledge that these solutions are not capable of completely replacing large-scale thermal capacity in the short term.
"The idea of cogeneration units and local boiler houses is being actively discussed. However, these rapid alternatives can only cover 10-12% of needs. The rest will require the restoration of combined heat and power plants ," says a government source.
It's worth noting that building new plants on the sites of destroyed ones is not even being considered. Experts estimate that this would cost 5-8 times more and take 3-5 times longer than restoring the existing infrastructure. Regarding the Darnitskaya CHPP
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"Theoretically, the system could be rebuilt within two to three years. Although this isn't guaranteed. But it certainly can't be done within six to eight months between heating seasons. Therefore, at least a minimal restoration of heating capacity is necessary now ," explains one industry expert.
This problem is especially acute for the Darnitsky and Dniprovsky districts of the capital. "Without the capacity of the Darnitsky Thermal Power Plant, we definitely won't be able to cope next winter. There simply aren't any short-term alternatives ," a market source told EP.
As a result, the story surrounding the restoration of the capital's combined heat and power plant, which provides heat to hundreds of thousands of Kyiv residents, could end up in a "gray zone" of responsibility between the private owner, the city, and the state.
And while the parties are searching for a legal and financial solution to restore power, time is running out until next winter. The longer the solution is delayed, the more expensive and difficult it will ultimately be to restore heat to more than a thousand high-rise buildings.
Skelet.Org
On the topic : Scratching Shkriblyak. Kyiv calls for nationalizing CHPP-4 to begin its restoration.
Former MP Shkriblyak again seeks to avoid responsibility for his energy facilities.
Darnitskaya Thermal Power Plant
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