Kyiv (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Union has raised Ukraine’s import capacity for electricity by 38.5%, providing Ukraine an opportunity to generate revenue for rebuilding power facilities damaged by Russian attacks, according to Ukraine’s energy ministry on Thursday.
Ukraine began significant power exports to the EU prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. These exports halted after Russia damaged Ukrainian power plants, but Ukraine resumed them earlier this year. The new limit of 900 megawatt hours will be effective until August 1, after which it will be reviewed monthly.
“Increasing the maximum export capacity is an important step that will make it easier to balance the Ukrainian energy system,”
Energy Minister German Galushchenko stated. He mentioned that this would enable Ukrainian power plants to generate extra revenue to address the impact of Russian attacks and get ready for winter.
What was the impact of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power-generating capacity?
Ukraine lost approximately 50% of its generating capacity due to an unprecedented level of Russian missile and drone strikes. Most of that loss was subsequently restored.
The loss occurred in large part due to the Russian missile strikes, which took place in several rounds over a series of months – especially intense attacks in 2022–2023 and again in the spring of 2024 – targeting generation facilities (thermal power stations, hydro stations, solar plants, etc.) as well as key substations and electricity transmission facilities.
Just the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant removed 6 GW of available capacity in the Ukrainian system.
How much power did Ukraine export in June 2025?
As reported by Reuters, Ukraine’s electricity exports surged to over 237,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) in June 2025, a 2.5-fold increase from about 95,000 MWh in May, according to ExPro consultancy. This marks a significant recovery, returning exports to levels last seen in autumn 2022, before the onset of Russia’s systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The consultancy noted that Ukraine exported electricity to Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, and Poland.
