DTEK Energo has increased investments in the development and upgrade of its thermal power plants and mines. Over eight months of 2017, the company invested UAH 3.6 billion in its enterprises, up by 80% YoY.
Investments in DTEK Pavlogradvuhillia and DTEK Dobropilliavuhillia made UAH 2.9 billion in the past eight months, up by 80%. This helps DTEK mines ramp up the production of gas coal, which will replace imported anthracite within the next few years. This year, the company has put into operation 20 mining faces and plans to commission 33 faces in total. It has produced 15.2 million tons of thermal coal since the beginning of the year.
DTEK has invested UAH 0.7 billion in its power generating plants, up by 79%. DTEK’s TPPs are making scheduled repairs to prepare for the heating season. The company is implementing projects to switch two units of Prydniprovska TPP from anthracite to gas coal.
In addition, DTEK is reconstructing unit No. 10 of Burshtynska TPP and unit No. 1 of Kryvorizka TPP. The upgrade efforts will help extend the lifespan of the units for at least 15 years, improve their efficiency and cut air emissions to meet the European standards. Since 2012, DTEK has modernized its power units and reconstructed electric filters to bring its dust emissions in line with Directive 2001/80/EU.
“DTEK has made the Ukrainian thermal coal a priority fuel for power generation. Therefore, we devised a three-step program to get rid of anthracite dependence. First, our units should start using gas coal instead of anthracite. Second, we’ll provide our TPPs with Ukraine-produced coal because we expect a significant increase of consumption after switching to gas coal. Thus, Ukraine will need to invest more in the gas coal production to ensure that the TPPs are fully stocked with fuel,” said Dmitry Sakharuk, acting CEO of DTEK Energy. “Third, we should modernize the existing facilities to maintain their efficient and uninterrupted operations. This will make Ukraine more energy independent and our consumers will have steady electricity supply.” (SCM/Business World Magazine)