1.3 GW tender: Ukraine shifts to a more resilient, decentralized energy system

Kyiv will launch a tender for more than 1.3 gigawatts of new flexible energy sources. The country is seeking to stabilize its grid after extensive Russian attacks on infrastructure while also changing the very architecture of its energy system. The new capacity is expected to be built mainly in the hardest-hit regions and to be more resilient to further attacks, Montel News reports.

Ukraine is continuing to rebuild its energy sector, which has been badly damaged by Russian attacks during more than four years of war. The government has approved a new tender to build more than 1.3 gigawatts of flexible generation capacity, which is intended to strengthen the stability of the electricity grid by 2028 and help cover shortfalls caused by the destruction of large power plants.

The new sources are to be built primarily in energy-deficit regions in the north and east of the country:

• Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions — 872 MW
• Kyiv and Cherkasy regions — 250 MW
• Dnipropetrovsk region — 100 MW
• Odesa region — 100 MW

Projects will need to have a minimum capacity of 10 megawatts and reach full output within 30 minutes of an instruction from the transmission system operator. The state will also offer investors support through a so-called market premium of up to 27,92 euro cents per kilowatt-hour for five years after a project starts operating.

“The tender targets smaller, decentralized gas-fired energy sources, because Ukraine is struggling to meet its peak demand,” said Daria Orlova, an analyst at Kyiv-based ExPro Consulting.

Bids can be submitted for three months after the tender documents are published. Construction of the new energy sources is expected to begin by the end of November.

From centralized energy to smaller sources

The new tender is part of a broader transformation of Ukraine’s energy sector. According to experts, the war has exposed the vulnerability of large centralized power plants, which have become easy targets for Russian missile and drone attacks.

Serhiy Makohon, former head of gas transmission system operator GTSOU, has warned that Ukraine needs to reshape its energy system, not merely rebuild it. In his view, the war has accelerated the end of the Soviet model based on large, centralized power plants.

Smaller decentralized sources distributed across different parts of cities and regions are significantly more resilient to attacks, experts say. The new power plants will also have to meet physical protection requirements, for example through concrete shelters, gabions or anti-drone nets.

“We expect the entire planned volume of capacity to be commissioned by the end of 2027. This will become one of the key elements in the development of decentralized energy generation and will contribute to creating a new energy security architecture for Ukraine,”said Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal.

Since the start of the war, Ukraine has lost approximately 24.5 gigawatts of generation capacity, representing about 70 percent of the country’s pre-war power fleet. Although 1.8 gigawatts of new solar and wind capacity, one gigawatt of small gas-fired power plants and 500 megawatts of battery storage were connected in 2025 alone, the pace of recovery is still insufficient.

Fears of further outages — preparations for winter

Ukraine wants to have around 14.6 billion m³ of gas in storage before winter, with 13.2 billion m³ considered the minimum safe level. The country is also relying more heavily on gas imports, as domestic production is under pressure from attacks.