Energy Bridge

An energy system under constant attack

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Russian attacks have severely damaged Ukraine’s energy supply. Power plants, substations, electricity grids, and district heating facilities have been targeted for years. The consequences affect not only electricity but also heating, water, hospitals, and municipal infrastructure.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine had around 44 GW of available electricity generation capacity. By early 2026, only about 11 GW remained. This is due to destruction, damage, occupied power plants, and technical limitations. On particularly cold days in January 2026, estimated electricity demand reached around 18 GW. Ukraine was, of course, able to restore some capacity over the summer. However, the massive bombardments have likely undone those gains.

What last winter showed us

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The winter of 2025/2026 highlighted the consequences of this supply gap. With temperatures sometimes falling below minus 20°C, there were major electricity and heating outages. In Kyiv, around 6,000 residential buildings were temporarily affected by district heating failures. Central heating could not be restored to approximately 1,100 buildings during the heating season.

Power outages disrupted water pumps, medical facilities, schools, and communication systems.

Why we are acting now

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Effective winter aid requires advance planning. Energy equipment must be identified, technically assessed, financed, procured, transported, and connected on site. For higher-capacity systems in particular, this can take several months.

Those who wait until February to respond risk having urgently needed capacity arrive only after the most critical phase of winter. That is why our campaign is starting now.

We share a responsibility to use the opportunities available to us early, rather than waiting for the next foreseeable supply crisis.

Our goal: As much electrical capacity as possible

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Through Energy Bridge, the three organizations aim to bring energy systems with a combined capacity in the megawatt range to Ukraine. From small mobile emergency generators and battery storage systems to renewable energy installations, larger combined heat and power units, and generators — limited only by the willingness to donate.

We will supply several schools, warming centers, nursing homes, and medical care centers in Dnipro Oblast and the Kyiv area with diesel generators rated at 3–20 kW.

With sufficient donations, we can also send additional large generators, used combined heat and power units, and solar installations, and arrange their installation on site.

As soon as enough donations have been received for the first deliveries, we will begin the first transports this very month.

As always, we will keep you informed about the scale of the deliveries and their recipients.

Decentralized energy systems cannot replace the reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy system. They can, however, reduce supply disruptions, safeguard critical facilities, and strengthen local resilience in the long term.

Experience as our foundation

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Last winter, UA-DE e.V. delivered energy aid worth around €165,000. Help for Resilience Ukraine Aid e.V. mobilized another €55,000. Together, that amounts to €220,000 in energy aid already provided. In addition, Water for Ukraine e.V. brought heavy-duty generators and solar installations to Ukraine.

This experience in procurement, logistics, and cooperation with Ukrainian partners forms the basis for our next step. Alongside financial donations, we also need suitable energy equipment, technical expertise, transport capacity, and corporate partnerships.

Energy Bridge combines immediate winter aid with the long-term development of a more resilient energy supply.

Three organizations – one shared goal: Helping Ukraine

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Humanitarian aid, life-saving emergency vehicles, and the reconstruction of critical infrastructure.

UA-DE e.V., Help for Resilience – Ukraine Aid e.V., and Water for Ukraine e.V. are three independent nonprofit organizations based in North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the people behind these organizations have been supporting Ukraine’s civilian population. They combine their different areas of expertise, organize aid transports, and work with Ukrainian partners — including in regions particularly hard hit by the war.

The three organizations complement each other through their different strengths: UA-DE has a close-knit network and direct contacts with governmental and nongovernmental actors in affected regions; Help for Resilience organizes emergency vehicles and municipal partnerships; and Water for Ukraine contributes technical expertise, a broad network of municipal utilities, and experience in transport logistics.

UA-DE e.V. – Düsseldorf

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Humanitarian aid delivered directly to people

Areas of particular expertise:

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• Networking with authorities, municipalities, and aid organizations in Ukraine
• Generators, battery storage systems, and other small-scale energy supply equipment
• Campaigns, administration, logistics, and transport coordination
• Focus regions: Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia

UA-DE was founded in November 2024. Its six volunteer members from Germany and Ukraine have, in some cases, been involved in aid to Ukraine since February 2022. Since then, they have delivered relief supplies worth over €1.2 million to Ukraine and supported numerous projects.

The organization focuses on regions particularly affected by the war, including Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia. Its priorities include supporting children, families, and older people; assisting hospitals and emergency responders; helping with evacuations; and providing vehicles and independent energy sources.

Its work is characterized by personal contacts in Ukraine, direct assessments of needs, and close cooperation with local organizations and municipal administrations. This enables UA-DE to provide flexible, targeted assistance.

Website: https://ua-de.info

Help for Resilience – Ukraine Aid e.V. – Berlin

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Emergency vehicles, municipal partnerships, and energy projects

Areas of particular expertise:

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• Establishing municipal partnerships between Germany and Ukraine
• Grant-funded projects for essential municipal services
• Renewable energy systems, delivery of large generators, firefighting and rescue vehicles
• Focus regions: Kyiv and Ukrainian-controlled areas of Donetsk

Help for Resilience was established in October 2025 and has been a registered nonprofit association since January 2026. Its main focus is procuring and delivering urgently needed firefighting and rescue vehicles, as well as equipment for emergency responders in Ukrainian communities near the front line.

Its activities began in late 2025 with the handover of a fire engine and an ambulance to the city of Druzhkivka and a hospital in Kramatorsk, respectively. Since then, a total of 14 vehicles have been handed over to communities near the front line, primarily in Donetsk Oblast.

A second priority is establishing solidarity partnerships between German municipalities and Ukrainian municipalities near the front line. The organization helps identify partner municipalities, develop projects eligible for funding, prepare applications, procure equipment, arrange transport, and finance required matching contributions. The goal is to turn one-off emergency aid into reliable, long-term support. In March 2026, two generators with a combined capacity of 1 MW were delivered as part of the Leipzig–Kyiv city partnership.

Website: https://www.help4resilience.org

Water for Ukraine e.V. – Wuppertal

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Securing water supplies, rebuilding infrastructure

Areas of particular expertise:

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• Networking with energy suppliers, water utilities, and municipal utility companies in Germany
• Solar installations, large generators, pumps, emergency generators, machinery, and tools
• Campaigns, administration, logistics, and transport coordination

Water for Ukraine emerged immediately after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 as an initiative rooted in the municipal utility sector. The nonprofit association was founded in May 2023.

Its main focus is supporting Ukrainian water, wastewater, and energy utilities. To this end, specialized vehicles, pumps, emergency generators, machinery, and tools are collected and transported in aid convoys. Cooperation with Ukrainian water utilities allows technical relief supplies to be distributed according to actual needs.

By February 2025, in-kind donations worth around €5 million had been delivered, and approximately €300,000 in monetary donations had also been collected. More than 50 municipal utilities, companies, and other institutions support the initiative. Water for Ukraine thus combines technical expertise from Germany with practical reconstruction assistance in Ukraine.

Website: https://water4ukraine.de

Donate now!

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