Adedokun Waliyu 
Ukraine’s largest private power and coal producer DTEK plans to upgrade its infrastructure for a switch to natural gas and nuclear generation as it seeks to phase out its use of coal by 2035, CEO Maxim Timchenko said.
Global progress on phasing out carbon-intensive coal to try to curb global warming is very uneven.
Whereas many countries are baulking at investment needed for the energy transition, Ukraine has been forced to renew infrastructure by Russia’s war. Timchenko said that about 80% of equipment at its coal-fired power stations was damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks last winter.
DTEK this week outlined its energy transition plans to try to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
“So according to the energy strategy of Ukraine, by 2035, coal generation should be phased out. So, we are planning this horizon until 2035,” Timchenko said.
On the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in the Polish Baltic port of Gdansk on Friday, DTEK signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S. energy technology company GE Vernova (GEV.N), opens new tab.
The two companies plan to work together to develop a 650-megawatt combined-cycle gas turbine at DTEK’s Burshtyn power plant site in Western Ukraine, which is currently designed to operate on coal.
The budget for the project is €900 million ($1.02 billion), with targeted commercial operation before 2032.
In addition to converting coal infrastructure, DTEK is also working on renewables.
A 650 MW wind park project in the central Poltava region will be the largest onshore wind farm in the region and Timchenko said the company hoped to start construction next year.
Speaking in Gdansk, Timchenko said another step beyond gas technology and renewables would be to invest in small modular reactors.
“I think it will be the next step for us, bringing more new technologies in nuclear power, nuclear generation. And that probably will happen beyond 2030, not now,” he said.
The company in the nearer term is focused on the risk Russian attacks destroy more infrastructure and the need to ensure energy supplies during the harsh winter months.
DTEK has said it will repair all the Russian-inflicted damage. That will cost €300 million, half financed with DTEK’s own funds and half through partners, Timchenko said.
It has also been developing its liquefied gas trading business in recent years, D.Trading, betting on expectations that LNG will play a crucial role after most of Europe has stopped buying pipeline gas from Russia.
The company imported its first cargo of U.S. LNG in December 2024 and wants to be a “visible player” in Europe, Timchenko said.
Over the next one-to-two years, the company’s ambition is to import between six and 12 cargoes a year – or up to 1 to 1.2 billion cubic meters a year, he said.
He added DTEK was in talks about importing through Poland, without elaborating.
