Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, EU has mobilised 800 power generators for Ukraine and is now providing further energy support
The President of European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen has announced to provide energy support to the people of Ukraine by urgently delivering power generators to Ukraine, setting-up a rescEU health and energy hub in Poland opened to any third country donors and by sending energy saving light bulbs to Ukraine.
The announcement comes in the wake of falling temperature in Ukraine and the Russian invasion which left millions of people without access to electricity, central heating and water. The announcement was made during the ‘Standing with the Ukrainian people’ Conference in Paris. Since the Russian invasion, E.U. has mobilised around 800 power generators to Ukraine.
The latest energy assistance will be channelled through the E.U. Civil Protection Mechanism and will include 40 new large generators from the rescEU reserve to provide uninterrupted power to 30 hospitals across the country. It will also include 100 small – medium power generators from France, 19 generators from Slovakia, 23 generators from Germany, 52 transformers from Lithuania and 4 emergency power systems from Poland. Besides, Lithuania has given 252 transformers.
Taking it to twitter, Ursula tweeted,
The Ukrainian spirit remains unbroken. Unyielding.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 13, 2022
We will help the Ukrainian people as long as necessary.
We have already mobilised 800 generators.
Now Europe is providing more support to help Ukraine get through the winter ↓ https://t.co/esORtx6EIN
She also announced that European Commission will mobilise around € 30 million for the purchase of up to 30 million energy saving light bulbs for Ukraine. The E.U. is also setting up a new rescEU energy hub in Poland to facilitate the transport and warehousing of donations from third parties and help with their delivery to Ukraine. This is done in cooperation with our Group of 7 (G7) partners and can greatly increase supplies of emergency aid to Ukraine.
She further tweeted,
We will fund up to 30 million LED bulbs for Ukraine, for precious energy savings.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 13, 2022
When 50 million of these bulbs are deployed with our partners, this will save 1 GW – the annual output of a nuclear plant!
In times of darkness, we stand with our Ukrainian friends. pic.twitter.com/dPBflbnj0L
As of now, the E.U.’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre has channelled more than 76,677 tonnes of assistance to Ukraine via the E.U. Civil Protection Mechanism and also continues to coordinate medical evacuations of wounded or ill Ukrainians to hospitals across Europe. More than 1,600 patients have been successfully transferred to 18 European countries with the help of weekly flights departing from the E.U. Medical Evacuations Hub in Poland.
The European Commission is also working closely with the Energy Community to support the Ukrainian energy system. The Ukraine Energy Support Fund has so far collected € 32 million to cover the most urgent needs.
The E.U. Civil Protection Mechanism’s assistance goes beyond generators and transformers, with a wide variety of items such as circuit breakers, wiring and cables, supplies and equipment necessary for the repair, maintenance and functioning of the energy infrastructure. The E.U. has given around 56,500 different items to Ukraine.
