Ukraine's largest private energy company has joined a Polish project to build electricity storage systems. The goal is to create a joint system of Ukraine and the Union, immune to Russian missile terror targeting Ukraine's energy sector.
DRI - a subsidiary of DTEK (the energy conglomerate of Ukraine's richest man Rinat Akhmetov) has signed an agreement to acquire shares in a special-purpose company set up by the Polish company Columbus Energy SA. The project in question is the BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) project.
The purchase of shares will give the Ukrainian company the right to build in southern Poland, energy storage systems with a capacity of 133 MW, subject to obtaining the necessary permits. The merger is a key element of DTEK's plan to integrate the Ukrainian energy market with the Union's global market.
The Ukrainians emphasize that "deepening cooperation with the Polish energy system will enable Ukraine to count on electricity supplies from the EU under conditions of energy shortages, especially in the context of Russia's energy terror."
"This is an important test project for Central and Eastern Europe, which will show how electricity storage systems can be effectively implemented. We are strengthening our partnership with EU countries, and this project is an important step towards the integration of the energy systems of Ukraine and Poland," assessed Maxim Timchenko CEO of DTEK.
Electricity storage systems are a key technology for accelerating de-carbonization through renewable energy sources while maintaining grid flexibility.
DRI plans to finalize the agreement with Columbus Energy in the coming months and begin construction on site in the fourth quarter, with completion and commissioning of the facility in early 2026.
DTEK Group already has experience with energy storage technology through a project in Enerhodar, which was completed in 2021.
"We decided to sell one of our energy storage projects to a partner from DTEK Group. Investment in large-scale energy storage is inevitable, and the value of the portfolio of projects Columbus has is very high. The most advanced energy storage projects have a capacity of 202 MW and 63 MW, respectively. The transaction shows that Columbus can be an equal partner for multinational energy corporations. We have done a successful transaction with Engie (a French energy corporation), now with DTEK," commented Dawid Zielinski, CEO of Columbus Energy S.A.
Columbus and DRI entered into a Term Sheet agreement in October 2023 for strategic cooperation in the construction of large-scale energy storage facilities. At the time, the Ukrainian group was interested in three energy storage projects owned by Columbus, with a total capacity of 398 MW and 1.6 GWh.