Ukraine imports record amount of electricity in Feb

MOSCOW. March 4 (Interfax) - Ukraine's electricity imports in February 2026 increased by 41% compared to January to 1,262,800 MWh, a new record of monthly imports since the launch of the new electricity market, Ukrainian media reported, citing the DIXI Group analytical center and Energy Map data.

"For comparison, the February 2025 imports amounted to 244,200 MWh, or one-fifth of the February 2026 imports," DIXI Group said.

Ukraine has not exported any electricity for three consecutive months.

DIXI Group said Ukraine's power grid remained under significant pressure over the past month. Freezing weather drove up electricity consumption, which, along with damage to generation facilities, high-voltage substations, and transmission and distribution networks, created a chronic power shortage in the grid, reaching 5-6 GW at certain periods.

According to DIXI Group, Hungary accounted for the largest share of imports in February, 49%, or 618,000 MWh. Romania supplied Ukraine with 19% of all imported electricity (240,600 MWh), Slovakia 18% (227,100 MWh), Poland 13% (159,400 MWh), and Moldova 1% (17,700 MWh).

Electricity imports into Ukraine increased last month by 18% to 54% depending on the country.

As indicated by DIXI Group, the capacity limit for imports from EU countries into Ukraine and Moldova has been 2.45 GW since January 2026, a record high for the entire period of Ukraine's synchronization with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E, the continental European grid). The previous maximum for the Ukraine-Moldova block was 2.15 GW. Considering that some of the imported capacity goes to Moldova, around 2.1 GW of commercial imports is available for Ukraine.

Available transmission capacity utilization in February averaged 89.5% of the nominal value of 2.1 GW.

"Therefore, Ukraine remained a net importer of electricity for the fifth month in a row in February 2026, its import volumes reaching an all-time high," DIXI Group said.

As reported, the key factor prompting the increase in electricity imports into Ukraine and the simultaneous price surge on the day-ahead market (DAM) was the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Utilities' decision to increase price caps on short-term market segments starting January 18, 2026.

The commission decided at its extraordinary meeting on January 16 to set the maximum price for electricity on the day-ahead market (DAM) and the intraday market (IDM) at UAH 15,000/MWh for the entire day for the period from January 18 to March 31, 2026.

According to ENTSO-E, in February 2026, Ukraine 21 times ranked first among 26 European countries by the average daily BASE price index on the DAM (on February 1, 4-10, 13-14, 17-18, and 20-28).

Throughout 2025, Ukraine ranked second among 27 European countries by the BASE index on the DAM, which averaged UAH 5,292.62/MWh calculated based on the unified Central European Time (CET).