Ukraine may be left without electricity again: what caused it?

Thermal power plants across Ukraine have been forced to shut down their cogeneration plants since April 1 due to new government restrictions. This will lead to losses of hundreds of megawatts in the power system, which in turn will cause longer power outages for the population.

Representatives of the Association of Critical Infrastructure Operators reported this on their Facebook page.

The main reason for the crisis was the changes to government resolution No. 222, adopted on March 30, which canceled the preferential price for natural gas for most heating and power utilities. Now, only power generating facilities located in frontline areas, as well as those launching new cogeneration plants after December 1, 2025, have the right to purchase gas at a preferential rate of 19,000 hryvnias per thousand cubic meters. Other enterprises can use gas at a fixed price only for water heating or for generating electricity exclusively for their own needs.

These innovations lead to the shutdown of expensive equipment, since the purchase of gas at a market price that exceeds the preferential price by one and a half times makes electricity production economically unprofitable. Problems are also created by new procurement rules that have not yet been defined. This complicates the work of private electricity suppliers, who are already forced to limit their activities to six hours a day.

The Executive Secretary of the Association, Ruslan Holub, expressed sharp criticism of the new gas market rules, emphasizing that the shutdown of cogeneration plants could reduce the country’s energy sustainability, as it would lead to losses of capacity in the energy system. He added that such decisions contradict the state’s intention to develop distributed generation.

The Association appealed to the government and the Prime Minister with a demand to cancel the March amendments to Resolution No. 222. They call for the return of the right to purchase gas on preferential terms for electricity generation to TKE and to develop an effective economic mechanism to support the activities of enterprises.