OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2008. Donbass Fuel-Energy Company (DTEK, Donetsk) is considering the possibility to establish an international consortium to construct a high voltage direct current (HVDC) connection to use the 750 kV interstate electricity transmission line Khmelnytskyi (Chmielnicki)-Rzeszow for export of Ukrainian electricity to Poland, the Chief Strategy Officer of DTEK, Vitaly Butenko said.
 
‘We want to export electricity to Poland and we are considering the participation in the project to build an interconnector between Poland and Ukraine’, he said.

As explained by V. Butenko, the cost of such a project may be about PLN500m Polish zlotych and the construction period is 3 to 5 years. He is convinced that ‘with the participation of the private sector the construction will progress much quicker. The best option would be to establish an international consortium to deal with it’.

According to the newspaper, the Polish PSE-Operator S.A., which operates the main and interstate electricity transmission lines of the country, is also interested in the implementation of the project.

In his interview to the Ukrainian newspaper Delo published on Wednesday, V. Butenko confirmed the company’s plans to enter the market of Ukrainian electricity export to European countries.
 
‘An entry into the energy markets of Eastern and Central Europe in the situation of crisis is becoming even more important. The top priorities are the development of electricity and coal exports’, he said.

‘Then we consider the acquisition of thermal generating capacities that may run on our coals. In such a way it is possible to get a direct access to the energy markets of Eastern and Central Europe’, V. Butenko added.

Ukrainian electricity is being exported to Poland from Dobrotvorskaya TPP via one of the interstate electricity transmission lines, the Polish part of which is leased by Zamojska Korporacja Energetyczna S.A. This line allows transmission of up to 230 MW. 
 
The main and interstate electricity transmission lines of Ukraine are operated by NPC Ukrenergo, which also exercises centralized control over the integrated power system of the country.

DTEK was delegated the function of the strategic management of the companies of Rinat Akhmetov’s System Capital Management (SCM) that build up a vertical integration chain from coal production and enrichment to electricity generation, transmission and supply.