Ukraine has increased electricity imports: what is the reason?
9 March 21:06
Ukraine has increased electricity imports from Europe and Moldova following the start of a planned maintenance campaign at nuclear power plants.
This was reported by the analytical company ExPro Consulting, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to its data, total electricity imports amount to about 35,000 MWh.
Imports began to grow again
The day before, imports showed a short-term decline.
In particular:
- On March 4–6, the average import volume was about 27,000 MWh per day
- on March 7, it increased to 32.5 thousand MWh
The reason was a planned shutdown of a power unit
According to ExPro Consulting estimates, the increase in imports is related to the planned repair of one of the power units of Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
During such repairs, part of the generating capacity is temporarily removed from the power system, forcing operators to compensate for the deficit through imports.
Ukraine has also resumed exports
Despite the increase in imports, Ukraine partially resumed electricity exports in early March.
On March 5, deliveries abroad resumed for the first time in four months, but
- the volumes remain very insignificant
- exports are only possible during hours of electricity surplus
Record imports in February
The previous month was a record month in terms of electricity purchases abroad.
According to ExPro Consulting:
- in February 2026, Ukraine imported 1.26 million MWh of electricity
- which is 41% more than in January
This jump is explained by the difficult situation in the energy system and the need to balance electricity production and consumption.
