At G7+, Energy Community Secretariat: this winter will test Ukraine, we must be ready 

Solar panels installed under the Fund's Ray of Hope initiative

The fifth winter of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine will be a defining test for the country’s energy system, and for the model of international solidarity supporting it. This was the message from the G7+ Energy Ramstein meeting in Paris on Thursday, in which Energy Community Secretariat Director Artur Lorkowski participated.

“Ukraine is at the forefront of developing new ways to protect and operate energy infrastructure under attack, generating experience and innovation that can help strengthen energy security well beyond its borders,” Lorkowski underscores.  

The Energy Community Secretariat administers the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, the principal mechanism through which international energy assistance is channelled to Ukraine.  At the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk in June, the European Commission, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine and the Energy Community Secretariat jointly called for an additional EUR 650 million to cover prioritised energy needs ahead of winter. Strong international support reduced these needs by 70%. Yet the scale and frequency of attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure continue to evolve. At the G7+ meeting, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine put the current additional needs at EUR 400 million. 

This renewed call comes against a track record of procurement processes that have consistently delivered for Ukraine. Together with the Ministry of Energy and procurement agent UTA-SWECO, the Fund held a workshop ahead of the G7+ meeting, bringing together 120 participants to strengthen procurement processes and engagement with suppliers from G7+ and Fund contributor countries. As of this writing, and ahead of winter, there are approximately EUR 54 million in open procurement opportunities under the Fund. EUR 164 million worth of equipment is currently scheduled for delivery to Ukrainian companies by the end of 2026. 

At the same time, the Fund has become a reference point for approaches that will enable Ukraine's energy system to operate under sustained pressure while facing a more uncertain security environment well into the future. A prime example is the Fund’s Ray of Hope initiative. In a major milestone, one hundred and three healthcare facilities across 23 regions of Ukraine are now generating electricity from solar power systems installed through the project. This allows them to maintain essential power during outages, while supporting a more decentralised, renewable and resilient energy system and decreasing the energy costs of hospitals. 

Simultaneously, the Fund is helping unlock significantly larger volumes of private investment in Ukraine's energy system. To this end, with the support of Norway, Energy Community Secretariat launched the pilot stage of a new de-risking mechanism this week. The mechanism addresses two of the main barriers facing investors in Ukraine's energy sector: access to commercial financing in a high-risk environment and the physical vulnerability of new generation assets to attacks. It aims to reduce investment risks while multiplying the impact of donor contributions. Following the pilot phase, the Secretariat will work in close collaboration with Ukrenergo and the Ministry of Energy, expanding and adapting the mechanism to cover new, flexible generation projects — building on the lessons learned from the pilot's results and pending additional funding. 

In agreement with the European Commission and the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, the Ukraine Energy Support Fund was established to counteract the impact of the Russian attacks targeting critical energy infrastructure. The Fund enables governments, international financial institutions and international organisations, as well as NGO and corporate donors, to provide financial support to the Ukrainian energy sector’s efforts to repair that damage and keep functioning. Contributions to the Fund are used to finance the most urgent needs of Ukrainian energy companies, such as equipment, spare parts and other technical items, as well as fuels and services needed to repair infrastructure and maintain energy and heat supply in Ukraine.  Current procurement opportunities can be found here.