Among the tragedies, the war in Ukraine has exposed the breadth of influence that Russia claims over the world and, especially, Europe. Slowly, European countries have been amputating the fossil fuel arteries connecting them to Russia, and now, Ukraine is poised to play a significant role in bridging some energy gaps.
Ukrainian electricity transmission system operator, Ukrenergo, is preparing to offer up to 100MW of "cross-border capacity" to neighbors Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, several months early, according to the Independent Commodity Intelligence Services, a service that is part of the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Group. If there are no interruptions or issues, that capacity could rise t 1.5GW by the end of the year.
Ukraine's total border capacity could rise to 2.5GW by the year's end, with existing agreements with Poland and Maldova. The large capacity could allow European countries to buy very cheap energy from Ukraine and further ween themselves off Russian gas and oil exports—a key strategy in the war to deplete Russia's resources and boost Ukraine's coffers. Demand within Ukraine has nosedived since the war began as major cities have been attacked and evacuated. Energy prices have followed suit, creating an opportunity for Ukrainian neighbors.