Ukraine faces tough outage schedules due to frost
Фото: Pixabay
In Ukraine, power outage schedules may be significantly increased due to severe frosts, and some cities risk having only a few hours of electricity a day.
This is reported by the Telegraph.
If the temperature remains at -10 °C or lower for a week , the power system will be in a critical state. This was stated by the head of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Zaichenko. According to him, consumption will increase so much that neither electricity imports nor domestic generation will be able to fully cover the needs of the population.
Energy expert and Chairman of the Council of the Ukrainian Renewable Energy Association Stanislav Ignatiev explained that during severe frosts, electricity consumption increases by approximately 20% due to the massive use of electric heaters. This creates an overload of substations, some of which are still in an emergency state.
According to his assessment, in the worst-case scenario, power supply could be reduced to 2-4 hours per day , but a complete blackout is not expected at this time.
The most difficult situation this winter may develop in Kherson, Chernihiv, and Kyiv . A supercritical state is also predicted in Chernihiv and Sumy regions, where Russian strikes have damaged almost all key substations.
At the same time, regions with their own generation will have more flexible outage schedules. According to the expert, Kharkiv has a special status, so mass outages are not used in the city.
Ignatiev also emphasized that Ukrenergo cannot always distribute electricity evenly between regions. Even if there is generation, it cannot be transmitted to other regions due to damaged network infrastructure.
It was previously reported that Ukraine’s energy system was on the verge of a serious collapse, and Kyiv and the eastern regions could be left without electricity.
As a reminder, as a result of the Russian attack on the night of December 13, electricity, water, and heat supplies were cut off in Odessa . Inviolability points were deployed in the city and drinking water supplies were organized.
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