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Ukraine manages to maintain the stability of its energy system, which is subject to Russian attacks, thanks to a number of factors, among them the import of electricity. Volodymyr Buzhan, an expert at the Center for Economic Recovery, spoke about this on the FREEDOM TV channel.
“There are several factors. The first and most important factor is that despite the serious deficit in the energy system that arises from time to time, we cover it with imports, which today can amount to up to two gigawatts. So far it reaches somewhere around 1.8 gigawatts. I think it can be expanded to 2.2-2.3 gigawatts by the end of the year,” he said.
According to the expert, reducing overall consumption also helps maintain balance in the energy system.
“Now consumption has dropped, because the weather is conducive to reducing consumption: there is no need to turn on air conditioners, but at the same time there is no need to heat the house with any electrical appliances. And thirdly, today there is a limitation on electricity consumption in certain regions, which are called front-line regions, such as Sumy region, Kharkiv region, in the Donbas region there are a large number of industrial enterprises that operate in a limited mode,” Buzhan said.
He believes that by the winter, Ukrainian energy facilities damaged as a result of Russian attacks will be partially restored. According to the expert, there is no point in restoring those power units that continue to be directly under artillery fire, under the fire control of the Russian occupiers.
“There is no point in restoring them, because they can be destroyed again with a very high degree of probability. This is the first. And secondly, sometimes there is such damage when the supporting structures are directly damaged, or the turbine room is seriously damaged, and you simply may not have time to restore it,” the expert said.
He noted that in some cases it is necessary to completely replace equipment, the production of which requires at least six to 9 months, and it also takes time to deliver it to Ukraine.
“Therefore, there is a big risk of not having time to simply carry out these restoration works,” the expert emphasized.
As for the destruction of the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant in the Kyiv region as a result of the Russian attack, then, according to Buzhan, we are talking about a serious loss of power, especially during peak periods of consumption.
“Naturally, this will most likely lead to outages during certain operating hours in the summer, when there will be greater stress on the power system. In winter too, but winter is still far away, and I think that before winter we can have time to carry out repair work, restore some blocks that are not badly damaged. And the second thing that can be done is to try to increase the volume of imports, that is, to expand the flow from the European energy system,” the expert noted.
Read also: Russia uses new missiles to strike energy infrastructure in Ukraine — Defense Express
As reported, on the night of April 11, Russian troops launched a massive air strike on Ukraine using cruise, ballistic and aeroballistic missiles (“Dagger”), as well as kamikaze drones. Generation facilities and electricity transmission systems in the Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Lvov and Kyiv regions were attacked.
