World Bank to Provide $116M Grant to Support Ukraine’s Heating Infrastructure
The World Bank is set to announce a $116 million grant to support heating infrastructure in Kharkiv and six other Ukrainian cities, as part of expanded energy resilience efforts revealed at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC-2025) in Rome, The Gaze reports, citing Interfax Ukraine.
Sevara Melibaeva, the Bank’s Regional Program Leader for Infrastructure and Sustainable Development in Eastern Europe, made the announcement during a panel on energy resilience and reconstruction.
“At URC, we will announce the extension of our support with an additional $116 million in grant financing for Kharkiv and six more cities, in partnership with the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development,” said Melibaeva.
She noted that the funding follows the successful delivery of 12 mobile cogeneration units (totaling about 60 MW) and containerized boilers (around 200 MW) to Kharkiv in December 2024.
These mobile solutions are being used as alternatives to large thermal power plants, many of which are beyond repair due to repeated Russian missile attacks.
In April 2025, Ukrhydroenergo and the World Bank signed agreements for an additional energy resilience project supporting Ukraine’s integration with the European energy grid. The planned hybrid solar and battery system will include 35.9 MW of solar power and 197 MW of battery storage capacity.
Meanwhile, Ukrenergo received its first 750kV high-voltage transformer under the World Bank’s REPOWER Ukraine project in late 2024, funded through a $247 million grant from the Ukraine Trust Fund (URTF). The fund is supported by 17 donor nations, including Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland, who have prioritized Ukraine’s energy sector for investment.
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