Officials from the U.S. and Ukraine said the countries will partner on building small modular reactors (SMRs) to replace the latter’s coal-fired power generation, with the SMRs used to help Ukraine decarbonize its steel industry.
A statement from the U.S. State Dept., released at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 16, said the countries will develop a roadmap to “rebuild, modernize, and decarbonize Ukraine’s steel industry with SMRs.” Decarbonizing steel production is seen as a key part of the process of rebuilding infrastructure in Ukraine damaged or destroyed during Russia’s invasion of the country.
The statement released at the COP29 event also said the partnership will “facilitate the transition of Ukraine’s coal-fired power plants to secure and safe SMR nuclear power plants utilizing existing infrastructure and retraining the workforce.” Another announced project is construction of a pilot plant in Ukraine to demonstrate production of clean hydrogen and ammonia using simulated SMR technology.
Ukraine is preparing for an energy crisis this winter after officials said half the country’s power generation capacity has been destroyed during the Russian conflict. Ukraine is working to rebuild its energy infrastructure, including through agreements with foreign partners to build cleaner and more sustainable projects. The country is ramping up construction of wind and solar power, although officials have characterized those efforts as more emergency solutions to provide more electricity, as opposed to part of a green energy strategy.
POWER in 2023 gave the Tyligulska Wind Power Plant project a Top Plant award. The installation persevered after construction was halted in 2022 due to the Russian invasion. Workers completed the wind farm despite having to live in bomb shelters. Representatives of the project accepted the award in person at POWER’s EP Week event in 2023 in Savannah, Georgia.
Three nuclear power plants in Ukraine remain under government control after Russian forces occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in 2022. Those three facilities provide about 60% of the country’s electricity. Ukraine Energy Ministry officials have said they are prepared for more Russian attacks on the power grid and generation infrastructure.
Ukraine’s energy-intensive steel industry produced about 10% of Ukraine’s pre-war gross domestic product. Production in the past year, though, has dropped to less than one-third of Ukraine’s total 2021 steel production. Power outages, worker shortages, higher electricity prices, and supply chain disruptions have severely impacted Ukrainian industry since Russia invaded the country.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).
