Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are seeking US$500 million to connect equipment already in the country and keep essential services running through winter.
UNDP announced the appeal Nov. 2 while its Goodwill Ambassador Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was visiting Ukraine for a week. He said people he met in Kyiv had electricity for only a few rationed hours each day. The agency said he spent the night of Oct. 28 in a metro station being used as an air-raid shelter.
The Ministry of Energy and UNDP launched the Ukraine Energy Installation Facility on Sept. 29, 2026, as a five-year nationwide program. It is designed to pay for work that can turn delivered equipment into functioning services, from technical reviews and site preparation to installation, grid connections and commissioning, or checks that equipment is ready to operate.
UNDP’s launch announcement listed transformers, generators, cogeneration units, renewable energy systems and battery storage among equipment already delivered to Ukraine. It also cited repeated attacks against facilities that generate power, transmission networks and municipal heating systems.
The facility is intended to serve communities across Ukraine. UNDP said more than 20 donor partners already support its work in the country, including Norway, Japan, Sweden, Denmark and the European Union; it has invited international partners to support the facility.
“Critical equipment is here,” Coster-Waldau said, urging partners to move it into service to meet communities’ energy needs. UNDP said energy repairs and emergency assistance helped 6.6 million people retain access to electricity, heat and water during 2025.
In Sept. 10 remarks, UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo said the coming winter would be Ukraine’s fifth since Russia’s full-scale invasion. He also said Russian attacks had affected roughly half of the country’s power-generation capacity.
UNDP gave no deadline for raising the US$500 million or schedule for putting equipment into service.
