United States has announced the provision of over $53 million to support acquisition of critical electricity grid equipment in the midst of Russia’s continued brutal attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Secretary of State, Antony Blinken who made the announcement during a meeting of the G7+ on the margins of the NATO Ministerial in Bucharest, said this equipment will be rapidly delivered to Ukraine on emergency basis to help Ukrainians persevere through the winter.
He added that this supply package will include distribution transformers, circuit breakers, surge arresters, disconnectors, vehicles and other key equipment.
According to him, “This new assistance is in addition to $55 million in emergency energy sector support for generators and other equipment to help restore emergency power and heat to local municipalities impacted by Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s power system.
“We will continue to identify additional support with allies and partners, and we are also helping to devise long-term solutions for grid restoration and repair, along with our assistance for Ukraine’s effort to advance the energy transition and build an energy system decoupled from Russian energy”.
He revealed that since Russia’s further invasion on February 24, working together with Congress, Biden’s Administration has provided nearly $32 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including $145 million to help repair, maintain, and strengthen Ukraine’s power sector in the face of continued attacks.
“We also have provided assistance in areas such as EU integration and regional electricity trade, natural gas sector support to maximize resource development, support for nuclear safety and security, humanitarian relief efforts to help Ukrainians to overcome the impacts of energy shortages”, he said.
Blinken recalled that since 2014, the United States has provided over $160 million in technical support to strengthen Ukraine’s energy security, including to strengthen European Union interconnectivity, increase energy supply diversification, and promote investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean energy technologies and innovation.
“Much of this support has helped prepare Ukraine for its eventual interconnection with Europe’s ENTSO-E electricity grid, including the island mode test in February 2022 that not only demonstrated Ukraine’s progress in meeting the EU’s technical requirements, but also proved to be critical considering Russia’s subsequent military activity aimed at disrupting power supplies and distribution in Ukraine”.
Meanwhile, Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy facilities on November 15 with its biggest barrage of missiles yet, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts.
As the missile strikes plunged much of Ukraine into darkness and drew defiance from President Volodymr Zelensky, who shook his fist and declared: “We will survive everything. Russia fired at least 85 missiles, most of them aimed at the country’s power facilities, and blacked out many cities”, he said.