Image: DTEK

Ukrainian private utility DTEK has energized the country’s largest battery energy storage project, and one of the biggest in Eastern Europe, despite the challenges of ongoing war.

The 200 MW/400 MWh installation spans six sites in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, with individual system sizes ranging from 20 MW to 50 MW. DTEK invested €125 million ($146 million) in the project, which is designed to provide enough dispatchable energy to power 600,000 homes for two hours.

The project is based on Fluence’s Gridstack solution and was completed in just six months—a significantly shorter timeline than the industry average for projects of similar scale and complexity. The fast-track schedule was driven by the urgent need to bolster the grid ahead of the winter season.

Because of restricted access to Ukraine, this is the first project Fluence has ever commissioned entirely remotely. To make it possible, 20 Ukrainian power engineers underwent advanced training at Fluence sites in Germany and Finland, enabling them to install and commission the systems independently without on-site support.

The storage systems are expected to enhance electricity security and reduce the risk of outages and grid disruptions, particularly when conventional dispatchable generation such as gas turbines fails. They will also help Ukraine store electricity from diverse energy sources, smoothing supply fluctuations and supporting greater integration of renewables into the grid.

“In the context of large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, the role of energy storage systems has become just as fundamental as energy generation itself,” said Energy Minister Svitlana Grinchuk.