Price caps prevent Ukraine from fully using imported electricity, expert says

Ukraine can import up to 2,5 GW of electricity, but the current approach to setting price caps does not allow this resource to be used fully during deficit periods. Cap prices on the market should be formed according to European principles, not set manually.

According to him, imports are one of the key elements of the power system’s resilience in winter alongside nuclear and distributed generation. The available 2,5 GW of capacity the expert compared to nearly two and a half nuclear units. "Next comes electricity import — that’s 2,5 gigawatts. That’s also a considerable amount of capacity, it’s almost 2,5 nuclear units. But these import opportunities need to be used better," Omelchenko said. Read also: Price caps should allow making money on the electricity market, MP said For that, he said, the government and the NRAEC need to change their approach to price caps — the maximum price at which electricity can be sold in certain market segments. When such a price "ceiling" is set manually and does not reflect market conditions, Ukraine can lose the opportunity to buy electricity from Europe precisely at the hours when its own generation is insufficient. "Because when price caps are regulated manually, a shortage of import capability is created at the time we need it. And we absolutely don’t need that, so this is a very important issue as well," the expert stressed.

Price caps in Ukraine Reminder: the NRAEC raised price caps (maximum prices) in shortest-term market segments in January 2026. According to industry analysts, that step allowed expanding import cross-border capacities and increasing electricity imports from Europe during the deficit caused by damage to energy infrastructure from Russian strikes. However, the regulator’s January decision to raise price caps was temporary, and according to the NRAEC resolution, they were returned to their previous level from 31 March. As reported, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada committee on energy and utilities, Andriy Herus, said that the cancellation of price caps from 1 May 2027 would not create a risk of uncontrolled price growth, because the law provides mechanisms to protect the market and consumers. Earlier, Oleksandr Vizir, coordinator of the "Energy and Climate" sector at the Ukraine Facility Platform, said that during an electricity deficit some available generation may be uneconomical to dispatch because of price caps. In his words, if producing one megawatt-hour costs more than is allowed to be sold for, a plant effectively has to operate at a loss.