At the end of January, operation resumed at the Tryfonivska solar power plant in Kherson, Ukraine. The project, which had been offline ever since Russian troops occupied the region in March 2022, was returned to the grid in a symbol of Ukraine's resolve against a war that on Feb. 24 will enter its second year.

Local residents near Tryfonivska were invited by plant operator DTEK Holdings Ltd. — the energy group owned by Ukrainian industrial magnate Rinat Akhmetov — to help in the restoration effort at the 10-MW site, where about 20% of the panels had been damaged by Russian shelling.

Two-thirds of the inverters are now back up and running, providing 1.5 MW of capacity. DTEK is working with grid operator Khersonoblenergo to repair a nearby substation that had been destroyed to allow the solar farm to run at full power.

Tryfonivska's rebuilding came after Kherson was liberated in late 2022. As a token of appreciation, DTEK sent 50 portable phone chargers to a nearby military unit involved in the counteroffensive.

"We are very grateful to the defenders who are winning back our Ukrainian land — village by village, city by city — until the return of all the regions and access to the borders of our state," Oleksandr Selyshchev, CEO of DTEK Renewables, said in a statement after Tryfonivska was reconnected. "The military have done their job, now it's our turn to do ours. We are trying to restore the station as quickly as possible so that it can generate electricity at its most for the needs of Ukraine."

Tryfonivska is one of many energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine that DTEK, national power company Ukrenergo NPC SE and other players have worked tirelessly to restore since the war began — often having to do so multiple times due to repeated shelling.

DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko previously said the company's employees call themselves "fighters," while at a virtual briefing for international media on Jan. 25, the executive said the energy frontline has the "same importance" as the military frontline.

Some 4,500 DTEK employees are currently serving in the Ukrainian army. The company has lost 141 people since the war began, with a further 346 wounded, 27 missing and four in captivity. Most of those who died or were injured were on the battlefield, but some were working to restore electricity.

Employees have been exposed to great personal risk. The most recent event in a series of regular media briefings by DTEK was interrupted by an air raid siren in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, forcing Timchenko and colleagues to conduct the rest of the session from the company's underground bomb shelter.

'We do everything possible'

Ukraine's recovery from Russia's invasion will be a "task for a generation," according to David McAllister, a German member of the European Parliament. "The destruction in Ukraine is mind-blowing," McAllister said during a Feb. 16 media briefing.

Indeed, the Kyiv School of Economics estimated in December 2022 that the war had caused nearly $138 billion in damage to infrastructure in Ukraine.

DTEK's fleet of thermal power plants has suffered 28 attacks by Russian forces. Meanwhile, key power stations at Luhanska and Zaporizhzhia, along with almost half of its 1-GW portfolio of wind and solar assets, are located in occupied territories and as such are offline.

Other players in Ukraine remain in limbo. Norway's Scatec ASA operates five solar farms in the country totaling 336 MW, and while the sites are 95% intact and available, production is being curtailed by the grid operator on an ad hoc basis due to low demand.

All six reactors at Energoatom's 5.7-GW Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were also disconnected shortly after the invasion after being seized by Russian troops.

In total, about 6 million citizens in Ukraine were deprived of daily electricity supply at the end of January due to a power deficit of about 1.5 GW at night and up to 4.5 GW during the day, according to DTEK.

"That's a huge number and it's quite difficult for everybody to cope with this, including our company," Timchenko told reporters Jan. 25. "We do everything possible to lower this deficit."

That includes importing power from other countries in Europe. Ukraine's power transmission system was disconnected from the Russian and Belarus grids on the day the invasion started, and shortly after the country began a trial synchronization with continental Europe that eventually led to commercial trading.

Tradable capacity from Continental Europe to Ukraine and Moldova was increased to 700 MW on Feb. 14, with capacity in the other direction remaining at 400 MW, according to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.

'Devastation and destruction'

The effort to rebuild Ukraine's war-damaged grid and return generation capacity to operation remains a key priority. In recent months, DTEK has appealed to neighbors in Europe and further afield for equipment donations to help it in its reconstruction job.

That job became harder when, last fall, Russia changed tactics to start directly targeting energy generation infrastructure in an effort to deprive Ukrainians of light and heat ahead of the winter.

"The devastation and destruction means it will be impossible to restore electricity supply with equipment from Western partners quickly," DTEK said in a statement earlier this year. "Instead, it will require investment and a longer rebuild."

The company is calling for international support to help it keep up with, and pay for, grid restoration in Ukraine. It said it has so far repaired damaged infrastructure at its own expense, in contrast to publicly owned energy companies that have received grants or loans to do so.

DTEK is also looking longer term with a plan to "build back greener." Ukraine has a target to have 30 GW of renewables on the system by 2030, as well as export capacity of 15 GW via electricity and green hydrogen.

That buildout could be financed by international strategic and financial investors if EU governments or international financial institutions were to provide equity guarantees, DTEK said.

"We have no doubt that Ukraine can become a significant leader in the decarbonization of Europe's energy," Timchenko said in January. "It is an important reason why winning this war matters so much for Ukraine and for Europe."

S&P Global Commodity Insights reporter Andreas Franke, who contributed to this story, produces content for distribution on Platts Dimensions Pro. S&P Global Commodity Insights is owned by S&P Global Inc.

S&P Global Commodity Insights produces content for distribution on S&P Capital IQ Pro.