Naftogaz Ukrainy will be able to fully meet the gas needs for power generation during the 2024-2025 heating season, considering the pace of recovery of damaged thermal power plant units and the connection of new generating facilities, said the company's Board Chairman, Oleksiy Chernyshov.

"We know approximately the capacity we will need to support; this is our domain. I can't name the figures right now as they are gradually increasing. But we have volumes with a substantial reserve to respond to these challenges. We see how many stations are being connected now, we see how many technical conditions we issue, and we fully cover these additional needs," he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the "NV Dialogues: The Future of Ukrainian Energy" discussion held on Tuesday in Kyiv.

Chernyshov said that the volume of gas not used due to the destruction and shutdown of thermal power plant units by Russia would compensate for the volume needed for new generation.

"This equation [ensuring gas for power generation] is tied to two factors. The first is the volume required by new generating units. The second is the volume freed up because not all thermal generating units will be restored. I believe the second parameter will definitely be larger than the first," the Naftogaz head said.

As reported, Ukraine, as of July 22, 2024, had natural gas reserves in underground gas storage (UGS) facilities amounting to 10 billion cubic meters. Since the start of the season, beginning April 1, the country has injected more than 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas.

"The injection rates allow us to optimistically forecast meeting the plan, specifically 13.2 billion cubic meters by November 1. I thank all the specialists who, despite the war, effectively perform their work," Chernyshov said.

In November 2023, Ukraine entered the month with 16 billion cubic meters of gas in storage. A total of 8.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas was withdrawn from storage during the 2023/24 heating season, with 6.7 billion cubic meters consumed. The gas withdrawal season lasted 145 days.

The energy holding DTEK plans to restore 60-70% of the thermal generating capacity destroyed by Russian attacks since March this year by October, absent new attacks, said Executive Officer Dmytro Sakharuk.