Odesa to allocate ₴60 million for cogeneration units to provide the city with heat and light during blackouts

The Odesa City Council has allocated 60 million hryvnias for the installation of new cogeneration units that will provide the city with heat and electricity even in the event of blackouts.

The decision was made on 16 April during a session of the Odesa City Council, according to NikVesti.

According to Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov, this is the first stage of a large-scale autonomous energy supply project, the total cost of which is almost 200 million hryvnias. The plan is to install 16 gas-piston cogeneration units with a total capacity of 31.8 MW.

«There are already 11 such units in Odesa. Four of them are high-capacity units delivered with the support of the UN and the governments of Japan, Norway and Sweden. Another seven are smaller, supplied by the German agency GSM and are intended for boiler houses in residential areas,» said Hennadii Trukhanov.

One of the cogeneration units with a capacity of 3.3 MW has already been put into operation. It will ensure uninterrupted operation of one of the district boiler houses throughout the heating season. At the same time, we are installing equipment at five other sites.

«We need to install and connect these units to boiler houses and other important facilities as quickly as possible. In total, we expect our partners to install 16 gas-piston cogeneration units with a total capacity of 31.8 MW. This is enough to supply electricity to the entire critical infrastructure of Odesa, with the rest to be delivered over the course of this year and next year. By the new heating season, we must manage to install and connect the maximum number of units, ensuring their connection not only to boiler houses but also to other critical infrastructure facilities. Not many, maybe a few, cogeneration plants of this capacity have been installed in Ukraine. It is not an easy job to install a cogeneration plant,» the mayor commented.

The decision to finance the project was supported by 43 deputies.

As a reminder, the Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, announced plans to create an «energy island» in the city, which will ensure stable heat supply during large-scale power outages. The city has also set up a working group to develop the city's Energy Sustainability Plan.

And in early 2025, Denmark allocated more than €26 million in aid to Mykolaiv region. Part of these funds will be allocated to the energy sector: various equipment and solar panels to increase energy resilience.

At the same time, it is known that solar stations will be installed at the facilities of «Mykolaivvodokanal». The work will be funded by partners from Denmark.

In 2023, it was reported that the utility company «Mykolaivoblteploenergo» plans to install modular cogeneration units that can fully provide electricity to the infrastructure of Mykolaiv.