News | Headlines IAEA to expand Ukraine assistance Ukraine War update


The International Atomic Energy Agency has undertaken to further expand its assistance to Ukraine by taking a more proactive stance in the protection of the country’s vital energy infrastructure to ensure it does not impact nuclear safety. This follows a number of missile attacks that have either directly caused the disconnection of several nuclear power reactors, or led to dangerous instability of the national grid, said IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi after meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on 3 September.


An IAEA expert team will soon travel to some of the damaged Ukrainian sub-stations – electrical switchyards forming the backbone of the grid – that have been identified as essential for nuclear safety. They will assess the situation at these sites and report back to headquarters for possible follow-up actions. “The safety of operating nuclear power plants is dependent on a stable and reliable connection to the electricity grid. As a result of the war, the situation is becoming increasingly


vulnerable and potentially even dangerous in this regard. I agreed with President Zelensky that the IAEA will widen its determined activities to help prevent a nuclear accident during the conflict and look closer at this important aspect of nuclear safety and security,” Director General Grossi said.


He also examined a cooling tower at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear power plant during the visit to assess the damage it suffered in a major fire last month, the latest incident underlining persistent nuclear safety and security dangers at the site during the war.


Seven killed in attacks on power infrastructure


At least seven people were killed and dozens wounded as over 200 missiles and drones were launched at more than half of Ukraine’s regions on 25th August. It was followed by a second wave of strikes early on the morning of the 26th.


It was one of its largest-scale air attacks on Ukraine of the war so far. Its main target was the power infrastructure, causing widespread


blackouts, as the entire country was put under air raid alert. Russia confirmed it had launched attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure – one of its long-term tactics – and said all its targets were hit. According to the commander of Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched 127 missiles and 109 attack drones. Previously, an attack in December involving 158 missiles and drones had been considered the largest attack so far in the two and a half year war. Some 15 regions of Ukraine were targeted in the strikes, Ukrainian Prime minister Denys Shmyhal said. It has been claimed that missiles included cruise missiles and supersonic missiles. After the attacks, Ukraine’s Energy minister Herman Halushchenko said “the energy sector is in the crosshairs” and the extent of the damage was being investigated. Ukraine’s national energy company, Ukrenergo, was forced to implement emergency power cuts to stabilise the system, prime minister Shmyhal said. Power outages have been recorded in several cities, including Kyiv and Dnipro, according to Serhii Kovalenko, chief executive of the Yasno energy company.


Inyanga Marine to expand its tidal energy project Wales Tidal energy


Inyanga Marine Energy Group has been awarded a further 10 MW for its tidal energy project at Morlais in Anglesey, Wales, through Allocation Round 6 (AR6) of the UK government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme.


This expands to 20 MW the scale of the project, which uses Injanga’s innovative HydroWing technology, and builds on its successful 10 MW award in the previous allocation round. The 10 MW contract is the largest tidal energy contract awarded for a project through CfD AR6.


Richard Parkinson, CEO of


Inyanga Marine Energy Group, commented: “This allows us to build on economies of scale from our portfolio of projects to achieve commercially viable generation projects. [It]


enhances our expansion in Anglesey and our commitment to develop the project in partnership with Menter Môn Morlais, to allow the site to reach its full potential and provide economic growth and benefit to Wales.”


Contracts for Difference is a UK government scheme that aims to bring forward new clean energy. The Morlais tidal energy project is believed to be unique, the only one of its kind in the world. Run by Menter Môn Morlais, all necessary infrastructure is already installed in the zone, including a connection to the national grid and two substations onshore.


Germany’s coal exit on track – no forced closures Germany Coal policy


Online news agency Clean Energy Wire reports that many of Germany’s coal-fired power plants went offline this year, so many that the country’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) had no need to impose a ban on these plants, partly because of an increase in renewable energy. The high number of market-driven coal power plant closures meant that the target for reduced capacity had already been exceeded this year, said BNetzA in a


statement. This is the first time it has not been necessary to impose a ban in order to achieve the target since Germany’s legally binding coal phase-out began.


Coal capacity is being under-used because of the growing share of renewable energy in the mix, reported Table Media. The share of coal in the electricity mix has dipped from 48 % nine years ago to 19 % in the first half of 2024.


In July, the country’s economy ministry 6 | September 2024 | www.modernpowersystems.com


confirmed to CLEW that the government would not make any political efforts to bring forward the 2038 statutory deadline for exiting coal, despite a coalition government agreement to phase out the fossil fuel ideally by 2030. Instead, economy minister Robert Habeck said operators could voluntarily switch off the power plants deemed to be climate- damaging earlier, as rising CO2


prices related


to EU reforms would make coal-fired power plants increasingly non-viable.


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