Will using small and medium cogeneration facilities help improve the resilience and reliability of providing energy to critical infrastructure in Ukrainian cities and settlements? This was discussed by the People’s deputies, representatives of government authorities, heat generation utilities, and international experts at a round table organized by the VRU Committee on Energy and Housing and Utility Services, together with the USAID Energy Security Project (ESP) on March 24th, 2023.
Cogeneration is a process to produce heat and power at the same technological process. Small and medium cogeneration units shall be considered as an integral part of distributed generations (DG) concept in the national energy production system. Specifically, small and medium cogeneration units, especially when installed based on municipal district heating facilities, ensure the utility’s self-supply, this way increasing the utility’s resilience to power supply interruptions, providing opportunities to power local critical infrastructures, making those critical infrastructures less vulnerable to power outages. Excess electricity could be supplied to the grid.
“Modern cogeneration has better efficiency indicators, so this issue is extremely relevant for Ukraine. We have little time to prepare for the next winter and must do everything necessary to approach the next winter in a stronger position, with more diversified sources of energy,” said Andrii Gerus, Chairman of the VRU Committee on Energy and Housing and Utility Services.
The Unified Power System (UPS) of Ukraine was built as a centralized system, and it has great advantages in peacetime but has proven vulnerable in wartime. Thanks to the heroic efforts of energy workers and the great support of the international community, Ukraine got through the winter with minimum consumption restrictions due to the power equipment and low-power diesel generators provided by USAID and other donors. But the problem cannot be solved with diesel generators alone. A complex solution is needed to ensure the stability of the power system, particularly in emergencies. One of these solutions is the development of DG and the use of cogeneration of small and medium capacity (units have an output capacity of 5 MW – 20 MW).
“Starting from October 2022, the enemy fired at 24 generation facilities. Most of them were shelled repeatedly. As a result, 19 units of thermal power plants with a total capacity of 3.3 GW, 4 CHP power units with a total capacity of 1.1 GW, and 8 hydro units of HPP with a full capacity of 540 MW remain damaged today. In addition, five thermal power plants with a total capacity of 10 GW and Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe, with six power units and a total capacity of 6,000 MW, remain under occupation, said Yurii Vlasenko, First Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine. Currently, the Ministry of Energy, together with the Ministry for Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure of Ukraine and USAID, are preparing projects on technical solutions for the DG development in Ukraine, focusing for a date on the regions most affected by the war.
Ashley King, Energy Officer of USAID Ukraine, noted that microgrids, distributed energy resources, and distributed cogeneration based on district heating systems could be prioritized to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience, restore the power supply, and reduce the blackouts after russian attacks. “USAID, through its Energy Security Project, will help Ukraine strengthen its energy security, stabilize energy supply, increase the stability of the energy sector and the energy independence of the country as an integral component of national security,” Ms. King emphasized.
“CGUs can provide electricity both for the heating utility’s (DHC) own needs and for other critical infrastructure facilities such as water supply and wastewater utilities, hospitals, etc. Such units may come in several technologies and can use reserve types of fuel and local energy resources. At the same time, the cost of generated electricity is lower than that produced by a diesel generator, and the service life of the CGU is much longer,” said Serhii Pinchuk, USAID ESP Heating Expert. The expert also mentioned the possibility of dispersing CGUs around the city, which reduces the likelihood of damage during missile attacks.
Some cities of Ukraine, particularly Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and Starokostiantyniv, already have experience using CGUs during power outages at the local level. Using CGUs during the 2022-2023 heating season helped cities keep critical infrastructure facilities functional. At the same time, the development of CGU potential is limited by imperfection or lack of relevant regulatory norms. For example, DHC in Cherkasy has 3 CGUs with a total capacity of 3.9 MW(e). This utility company and the distribution system operator (DSO) created a local “energy island” to power boiler houses, including the regional hospital boiler house, during blackouts. However, there is no regulation for such interaction, and in this particular case, it has only been possible due to the goodwill of the local DSO. DHC in Khmelnytskyi has 13 CGUs with a total capacity of 6.4 MW(e), out of which it uses 4 MW(e) for its own needs and has an excess capacity of 2.4 MW(e). The utility wants to use this energy to directly power other boiler houses in the city so that they are not left without power in the event of an emergency and can supply heat to consumers. However, to perform such auto-supply, NEURC’s license is needed, and it takes time and effort without a guarantee of receiving the permit. In Starokostiantyniv, DHC replaced its boiler house’s 2.2 MW gas-fired boiler with 720 kW(t) and 500 kW(e) CGUs. This made it possible to power heat substations by direct connection and to ensure the transfer of heat carriers to consumers regardless of power outages. The company could have used the excess electricity to power other facilities of the critical municipal infrastructure (namely, water and wastewater utility) but encountered regulatory barriers.
Talking about the rapid expansion of DG facilities, the municipal heat supply systems can serve as the best platform to expand. However, the development of CGU requires streamlining several regulatory issues, particularly the regulation concerning CGU’s direct connection to its own DHC facilities and other local critical infrastructure facilities. It also requires incentives for cooperation between the DSO, DHC, and local authorities to create an “island mode” to ensure the power supply of critical infrastructure from CGU in case of a blackout or rolling outages of electricity, as well as the implementation of a unified licensing system, setting tariffs for heat energy, etc.
USAID ESP supported the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine’s efforts to restore Ukraine’s energy system, and together with the Ministry of Infrastructure and state company “Ukrainian Distribution Networks” started the implementation of a pilot research project on increasing the reliability of power supply using distributed generation and microgrid which in emergency modes can be disconnected from main Ukrainian UPS grid and operate in isolated island mode. “As part of this project, a calculation model of 6-150 kV distribution networks will be created for one of the districts of the Mykolaiv oblast, seasonal and daily fluctuations in demand will be assessed, the presence of existing RES generation will be taken into account, and various scenarios of grid operation will be calculated. Together with Mykolaivoblenergo, USAID ESP plans to assess the technical condition of substations and the need for additional equipment, particularly equipment for protection and remote control. As a result, USAID ESP plans to obtain a methodology and a typical design of a synchronously operating microgrid with generation and technical specifications of the necessary equipment, which can be replicated in other regions with minimal changes,” said Roman Dorosh, USAID ESP Electricity Market Expert. For effective use of small and medium-capacity power plants, USAID ESP also suggests restarting the project to assess the adequacy of generating resources as soon as possible. Among other things, this will provide an opportunity to investigate the economic profitability of such generation in market conditions and the need for its support, to understand how many distributed generation projects Ukrainian UPS will be able to accommodate in the post-war period, and whether such projects will be economically profitable or will require state support while maintaining affordable electricity prices for consumers.