"Ukrenergo" about blackouts in winter: "We must prepare for the most difficult situations"

"Ukrenergo" about blackouts in winter: "We must prepare for the most difficult situations"

Some repair work at power units in Ukraine can be completed ahead of schedule, so the situation in the energy system is significantly improving, the Minister of Energy said.

All 9 nuclear power units will operate in Ukraine during the winter. Also, to reduce the deficit in the energy system, they can increase the import of electricity from Europe. This was announced by the Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko and the Chairman of the Board of NEC Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytskyi.

“We have clear deadlines for the repair campaign. The fact that we can advance these deadlines by reducing them has a very positive effect on the energy system. We are working to ensure that during the winter all 9 units in the controlled territory of Ukraine are online. It will be so , because all previous winters went like this,” Halushchenko noted.

The minister noted that some of the repair work could be completed ahead of schedule thanks to the efforts of specialists. This contributes to a significant improvement in the situation in the energy system. According to him, nuclear power plants now provide more than half of the total electricity consumption in Ukraine.

“Today, even without the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in the system, nuclear energy produces more than half of the country’s total electricity. Conventionally, every second light bulb glows thanks to the electricity produced by Energoatom,” Halushchenko noted.

To reduce energy shortages in winter, experts can increase imports of electricity from Europe. Calculations are now being carried out to assess the possibilities of increasing imports from European countries, said Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of National Energy Company Ukrenergo.

“Our energy system’s capacity for imported resources is quite significant. The limiting factors for imports today are certain “bottlenecks” on the European side, namely in their network... We expect a decision before winter. Because of course our goal is to minimize this deficit , which will be in winter,” he explained.

Kudrytskyi noted that Ukraine has contacted the Association of European Operators ENTSO-E and calculations are now being made regarding possible ways to bypass problem areas in the European energy grid. This will make it possible to find out how much it is possible to increase the volume of imports from Europe to Ukraine for the winter period in order to increase electricity reserves in the network and reduce shortages.

"The honest answer is that no one knows what our enemy will do or how successful his attacks will be. Therefore, we need to start from the fact that we must maximize our readiness - power plants, networks, communities, provision, for example, with backup sources supplying critical infrastructure facilities in cities in particular, and at the household level, what we can do in our own home,” added Kudritsky.

He emphasized that NEC Ukrenergo always prepares for the worst scenarios.

“We cannot afford to be overly optimistic. As an operator of the energy system, we must prepare for the most difficult situations,” Kudrytskyi emphasized.