Latvia helps Ukraine with equipment to restore energy infrastructure - diplomat
Latvia is helping Ukraine to support the energy sector affected by Russian shelling: the search for equipment needed to repair the restored energy infrastructure is underway, and ways to decentralise heat and power supply to Ukrainian communities are being sought.
Ambassador of Ukraine to Latvia Anatoliy Kutsevol told Ukrinform in an interview.
"Large companies Latvenergo and Rīgas Siltums [the main heat supplier in Riga] are collecting their Soviet-type equipment and transferring it to Ukraine. There are also companies that sell equipment... We are now in the process of verifying the lists of assistance to the Ukrainian energy sector," Kutsevol explained.
He noted that there are no decommissioned thermal power plants in Latvia that can be simply dismantled and transported. Therefore, it is necessary to engage in a more detailed search for equipment and parts that can be sent to Ukraine for repair work.
The Ambassador of Ukraine also stressed that there is a discussion of solving the problems on another way - decentralisation. "There are innovative approaches at the community level, where private enterprises generate heat through their emissions. And this heat can be redirected to heat supply in small towns using modern technologies," said the Ukrainian ambassador.
According to him, in this case, unlike the centralised system of large thermal power plants, it will be difficult for the aggressor to detect and damage the branched generation system. "I think that within the framework of the May meeting of the 10th Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Latvian Economic Commission, businesses will discuss with communities in Ukraine what technologies we could bring and install over a certain period of time to make our communities self-sufficient," Kutsevol said.
As Ukrinform reported, at the end of January, Chernihivoblenergo received 85 0.4 kV switchboards manufactured by the Latvian company Jauda for use in distribution networks. The funds for the purchase of this equipment were raised as part of a campaign organised by the Latvian state-owned company Latvenergo with the assistance of the Ukrainian Embassy in Latvia, the Ministry of Economy of Latvia and the Ziedot.lv charity foundation.