Recently, intensified attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructure have damaged a significant portion of its high-voltage network, but the production units have suffered the most severe hits.

In addition to nuclear power plants, which Russia is currently not targeting, Ukraine's energy production relies heavily on thermal power plants. The impact of drone and missile strikes on these has been compared by Enefit Power's CEO Andres Vainola to horror movies.

"I've also seen images in the media where a large 330-kilovolt transformer is in flames and burning. How selflessly Ukrainian energy workers and firefighters are extinguishing the fire next to the power plant block, while rockets are still flying overhead," Vainola said. "It's an unbelievable horror, but it's also an unbelievable bravery with which they stand against it."

Estonia can be most helpful in restoring thermal power plants, as many of the devices needed in Ukraine have been used here. And many devices here have been left idle for years.

"We have already transported very important components from the first block of the Eesti Power Plant to Ukraine this winter," Vainola said. "And in the coming weeks, the dismantling of the first energy block's 200 MW turbine and generator will begin, to also transport it to Ukraine by the start of summer."

The first unit or block's equipment is going to one of Ukraine's largest energy producers, DTEK, to replace a destroyed energy block. The dismantling and transportation costs are covered by the European Union, according to Vainola.

Hundred-ton transformer to be driven through Poland at night

The infrastructure where the first energy block's equipment is being transported is analogous to the old blocks of the Eesti Power Plant and has partially survived. This makes restoration a bit easier. "We hope together with the Ukrainians that they can get this block operational by next fall and winter," Vainola said.

He mentioned, for example, that manufacturing a power transformer for the first block would take at least two years. Estonia hopes to transport the transformer, weighing over one hundred tons, to Ukraine by late spring or early summer.

"This hundred-ton transformer must be transported in one piece," Vainola said. "It will likely be transported by trucks through Poland and at night. It's a very complicated transport operation, but it's feasible."

Vainola noted that the turbine and generator could be broken down into house-sized pieces, but their transport is not simple either.

In addition to the first energy block of the Eesti Power Plant, there are several other production units that have been shut down. Vainola mentioned that the Ukrainians are interested in the second and seventh blocks of the power plant as well as the 12th block of the Baltic Power Plant, which are also no longer in use.

"They are planned to be dismantled step by step anyway, but we must still retain some of the devices to maintain supply security and meet owner expectations," Vainola said. "But the Ukrainians have reached out to us, asking for help, hoping that we would be ready to relinquish the next blocks as well. We are working diligently here with the state and looking at what more we can do this year."

Enefit Power to conserve Baltic Power Plant's cogeneration block

Enefit Power will also be conserving the loss-making cogeneration block of the Baltic Power Plant for at least a year. The obligation of having enough dispatchable reserve capacity will be met using the Auvere and Eesti Power Plant blocks.

Due to the decline in natural gas and electricity prices and the high price of CO2, electricity production based on oil shale is no longer competitive in the market. This means that power plants using oil shale, including the Baltic Power Plant, have significantly less access to the market and largely lack the capacity to earn revenue from it.

"Eesti Energia group's long-term strategy is to gradually exit from oil shale electricity production and replace it with a circular economy-based chemical industry, and in electricity production, to focus on renewable energy and controlled electricity production with lower fixed costs," said Andres Vainola.

In 2022, Enefit Power produced 5.1 terawatt-hours of electricity, but in 2023, production fell to 2.2 TWh, a reduction of more than half. The production volume of the Baltic Power Plant decreased in a similar magnitude, dropping from 1 TWh in 2022 to 0.48 TWh in 2023. According to forecasts, the power plant's revenues will not cover the operating expenses in 2024.

Vainola added that a decision regarding the Baltic Power Plant's workers has not yet been made.

"We are trying to offer some of the employees positions in the developing chemical industry, while some employees will go on leave starting from the beginning of April. We will reach a final decision once the owner's expectations for Enefit Power become clear," Vainola said.

Thermal energy production will continue in the Baltic Power Plant's gas boiler house, which supplies heat to the residents of Narva through the Narva heating network.

Conserving the power plant involves deactivating the equipment and preserving it for possible future use.

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