Pilot programme to develop AI solution to strengthen Ukraine’s energy security

The project’s end goal is the creation of a SaaS prototype to be handed over to Ukraine’s National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC). This platform will employ AI to assess the state of vital infrastructure facilities, including those damaged in the war, especially in areas inaccessible on the ground. 

The programme was announced last week in Kyiv when the cooperation partners met with Ukraine’s deputy minister of Energy, Roman Andarak, where he also thanked Estonia for the sizable assistance it has provided to the Ukrainian energy sector, as Estonia has sent 225 tonnes of essential electrical equipment to Ukraine. 

According to Eva-Maria Liimets, ESTDEV's programme manager for Democracy and the Rule of Law, this type of AI solution will make managing Ukraine's energy assets more efficient and transparent. 

"We want to contribute to the restoration of destroyed energy networks and improve Ukraine's energy security because more than half of their infrastructure has already been damaged by Russian attacks,” Liimets said.

The Estonian Center for International Development (ESTDEV) signed a cooperation agreement with NEURC and another with the Ukrainian network operator UKRENERGO, who will participate in the pilot along with additional distribution network companies.

The project budget is 712,000 euros, of which 443,000 comes from confiscated Russian assets, while the remaining 268,000 euros come from Estonia’s development cooperation budget. In December last year, the Ministries of Justice of Estonia and the United States signed an agreement to redirect nearly confiscated Russian assets to the reconstruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure. The United States Department of Justice website has more information about these confiscated assets.