September 23, 2024: DTEK, the largest private investor in Ukraine’s energy sector, plans to invest €140 million ($156 million) in building “a series” of 200MW energy storage systems despite the war with Russia.

DTEK said on September 12 the systems would be commissioned no later than September 2025 and start providing ancillary services to Ukraine’s transmission system operator, Ukrenergo.

CEO of DTEK Maxim Timchenko did not give technical specifications about the proposed projects but said battery technology was vital in making possible the decentralization of Ukraine’s energy system and “ending Russia’s energy terror”.

“Despite the war and limited access to foreign capital markets, we continue to invest in Ukraine — not only to restore destroyed infrastructure, but also to build new facilities in line with our long-term strategy.”

DTEK was the first company to start building ESS units in Ukraine in 2021.

Batteries International reported in 2022 that DTEK was in talks with Honeywell to expand BESS capacity in Ukraine.

The companies had previously worked together to install a pilot 1MW/2.25MWh lithium ion BESS in May 2021 at Ukraine’s south-eastern Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.