In February-March 2023, USAID, through its Energy Security Project, provided Kyivteploenergo (KTE) utility with 2,637 tons of industrial salt for water treatment. This assistance worth $1.8 million will help district heating equipment function in the coming seasons and increase the reliability of heat supply to KTE’s consumers.
Water is used in a district heating system to transfer heat. Raw water contains solid salts, calcium sulfate, silicates, manganese, copper, and other components, which crystalize at 100°C on the surfaces of heat exchangers, boilers, and pipes and create a calcareous crust in the heating equipment. Therefore, using raw water significantly reduces the lifespan of the heat supply system leading to its failure.
In addition to the damage to heat supply system equipment and networks, using raw water leads to a significant increase in electricity consumption and a reduction in the efficiency of heating equipment. To prevent this, water must undergo chemical treatment with industrial salt before being used for heating.
Kyivteploenergo runs two combined heat and power plants (CHPs), 184 boiler houses and heat supply stations, and a waste incineration plant. It takes water from the Dnipro and Desenka rivers, Tyagle Lake, and Kyivvodokanal’s city pipeline network for further chemical treatment. As all this water should be properly treated, chemical treatment with industrial salt is used at all of KTE’s heat source facilities. The KTE’s annual need for industrial salt is more than 3,000 tons (approximately 50 train carriages). Considering this need, the USAID-funded Energy Security Project (ESP) procured and delivered 2,637 tons of industrial salt (almost an annual stock) to Kyivteploenergo to treat water and prevent the wear and tear of the utility’s heat supply system equipment.
In April 2022, Ukraine lost access to its salt mines in Soledar after extensive military strikes by russia. As a result, the USAID ESP helped to create a new supply chain for industrial salt to support Ukrainian heating utilities. Currently, the project procures and delivers industrial salt to 13 local district heating utilities, including in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Kharkiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Teplodar, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Podilsk, Vinnytsia, Khmenlnytskyi, Izmail, Lviv, and Lutsk. It is part of a total assistance of 6,190 tons of industrial salt, worth $ 4 million, intended for water treatment to keep district heating equipment functional and increase reliable heat supply to millions of Ukrainians.