Odessa High Voltage Grid Upgrade

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Project ID 33896

Status Complete

Location

Ukraine

Business Sector

Energy

Notice Type

State

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Project ID 33896

Status Complete

Location

Ukraine

Business Sector

Energy

Notice Type

State

Environmental Category

Approval Date

29 Nov 2005

Disclosure date

14 Jul 2005

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

Project Description

The proposed project consists of the construction of a new 330 kV Overhead transmission line (OHL) interconnection between Usatove and Ajalyk substations located in central districts of Odessa region neighbouring with Odessa city. The main purpose of the project is to reduce losses, increase quality, efficiency and reliability of electricity transmission in the region.

Transition Impact

The proposed project is the first of a number of projects that the Bank is considering financing with Ukrenergo, as per a Protocol of Cooperation signed with Ukrainian Government. Such an agreement reflects the overall reform programme and investment targets that the two parties want to implement.

The project will support improvement of electricity transmission reliability, network loss reduction, and security of supply in the Odessa region. Collaterally, the project will free up much needed transmission line capacity needed for trade between neighbouring Moldova and Ukraine, particularly in the peak winter demand period.

While implementing the project the Bank will also require cooperation with a study to recommend on improvements of Ukrenergo’s corporate governance, transmission tariff methodology and steps for the Ukrainian energy system to become part of the EU’s internal energy market, starting with integration into UCTE (Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity.

The Client

Ukrenergo, the company responsible for high voltage transmission and dispatch of electricity in Ukraine.

EBRD Finance

Up to EUR 25.8 million sovereign-guaranteed loan.

Project Cost

Up to 25.8 million, plus local costs payable by Ukrenergo to be determined.

Environmental Impact

Environmental classification and rationale

The project is screened A/0, requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the new transmission line. The operation and construction of such high voltage power transmission lines have specific but localized environmental, health and safety impacts which, however, can be readily identified and prevented through adequate design and application of good international practice during construction.

The initial Ukrainian EIA prepared by a local design institute in accordance with national requirements was reviewed by the Bank and independent international consultants and was subsequently amended to comply with Bank requirements. The EIA confirmed the adequacy of the route selection and did not identify major environmental issues. The routing of the line is not affecting protected areas and the transmission corridor is at a sufficient distance to avoid negative impacts on the local population. The EIA includes recommendations to alleviate any impact during construction and operation.

Key environmental issues and mitigation

This public sector project involves construction of a new 124 km power transmission line connecting the Usatove and Ajalyk substations in the Odessa region. The project will also include the expansion of these two substations. The line will be constructed along a new route and as part of the assessment a number of alternative routes were considered.

The environmental impacts associated with air emissions, physical alteration and the impact on sensitive natural habitats, archaeological sites, and agricultural and commercial areas are expected to be limited. Some impact may arise during construction and agreement will be sought with local landowners. Appropriate health and safety management is planned to ensure that occupational health and safety requirements during construction are fully addressed.

Some of the key environmental issues are summarised below:

Environmental impacts of transmission line projects are well known and generally very localized.; impacts arising from construction activities (access roads; erection of transmission towers)can be mitigated by applying sound engineering design and good construction management;
The entire length of the line route passes through mainly rural areas and avoids sensitive areas; no resettlement is required;
The line will traverse agricultural land. Although it has been designed to limit its impacts on farming practices, appropriate agreements and compensation will be paid to land owners.;
The impacts on the physical and biological environment are mainly limited to the construction stage; those impacts are limited in time and extent and are therefore considered to be moderate on condition that suitable working practices and adequate mitigation measures are applied;
No protected areas have been identified within the transmission line right-of-way (such as nature reserves, archaeological and cultural sites);
Close to the immediate line, there will be some increase in electromagnetic radiation. However, these areas are uninhabited and by ensuring health protection zones or limited access areas, any such impacts are considered to be moderate;

An environmental monitoring programme has been prepared as part of the EIA and will be implemented as part of the project implementation plan.

Environmental opportunities

The objective of this project is to increase the reliability of power supply to consumers in the Odessa region and to decrease dependency on unstable power supply from Moldova. The modernization of the substations as well as increased reliability of the power line will increase efficiency will thus have indirect environmental benefits.

Summary of Environmental Action Plan

The company will be required to adhere to Ukrainian and EU environmental, health and safety regulations and standards. All relevant permits will need to be obtained during the construction period and prior to commissioning the line. As all environmental protection measures have been incorporated in the project structure, there is no need for a stand alone Environmental Action Plan.

Disclosure of information and consultation

In the context of the EBRD’s participation in the project, the Company will release locally a summary of relevant environmental issues associated with the project and summarise mitigation measures, action plans and other initiatives agreed.

The EIA process had already included the first public scoping meeting held on 21 and 22 April 2005 in four project districts of Odessa region (Kominternivskiy, Ivanivka, Biliavka, Rozdilna districts). The draft final international EIA documents were made publicly available as required under the Bank’s policies, in both the national language and in English. The public hearing is planned for September 2005.

Previous extensive interactions with the public and NGOs on the project have not revealed any sensitive environmental issues.

Additional information is available on the Ukrenego web site www.ukrenergo.energy.gov.ua

Monitoring and reporting

The Company will monitor the environmental impact of its operations in accordance with national law and regulations. The Bank will evaluate the project's compliance with the applicable environmental and social requirements during the lifetime of the project by reviewing annual environmental reports prepared for the project and may, if required, carry out monitoring visits.

There is an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment available for this project.

Technical Cooperation

EUR 115,000 non-reimbursable TC for technical and environmental due diligence provided by German Government.

Transition impact

ETI Score:60

PSD last updated

01 Feb 2019

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement: Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

EBRD project enquiries not related to procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

Public Information Policy (PIP)

The PIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Public Information Policy page below to find out how to request a Public Sector Board Report.
Text of the PIP

Project ID 33896

Status Complete

Location

Ukraine

Business Sector

Energy

Environmental Category

Disclosure date

17 Aug 2005

Purpose of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments

The proposed project consists of construction of a new 330 kV power transmission line.

There is a project summary document available for this project.

ESIA Summary

EIA Executive Summary 2005 (English) (137KB - PDF)
EIA Executive Summary 2005 (Ukrainian) (348KB - PDF)
EIA Non-Technical Summary Addendum (2009) (418KB - PDF)

Full ESIA availability

Full ESIA documentation is available locally at:
EBRD Headquarters in London, environmentandsocial@ebrd.com

And

Ukrenergo office Odessa
11 Koblevska Street
Rooms 301 and 215

Tel: 730-17-61

And

Ukrenergo office
Kyiv
25 Kominiterna Street
Room 25

And

EBRD Regional Office Kiev ,
27/23 Sofiyvska Street;

Tel: + 380 44 464 0132

Contact Olga Yeriomina

And

http://www.ukrenergo.energy.gov.ua

Enquiries

Environmental enquiries

Margarete Langer
ERM GmbH
Konrad-Adenauer-Str. 3
D-63263 Neu-Isenburg, Germany

Tel: +49 (0) 6102 206 127
Fax: +49 (0) 6102 206 204

email:margarete.langer@erm.com

General enquiries

Nataliya Snezhko
Deputy Head of Foreign Economic Relations Department
Ukrenergo

Tel: 38 044 238 32 70
Fax: 38 044 238 32 81

email:Snezhko@nec.energy.gov.ua

This document was prepared at an early stage of project development, before consideration by the EBRD Board of Directors. Details of a project may change following disclosure.

Where PSDs include copies of documents produced by project sponsors, the EBRD makes them available without any comment or implied endorsement. Any views expressed or statements made in such documents do not necessarily reflect the EBRD’s views or opinions.

Last updated 19 August 2025

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

Our story

How we invest in changing lives

What we offer for businesses

Search

Odessa High Voltage Grid Upgrade

Project timeline

Project Description

Transition Impact

The Client

EBRD Finance

Project Cost

Environmental Impact

Technical Cooperation

Transition impact

PSD last updated

Business opportunities

General enquiries

Public Information Policy (PIP)

Purpose of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments

ESIA Summary

Full ESIA availability

Enquiries