Ukraine's power transmission system is operating in a critical mode due to damaged power lines, and electricity imports, which allow the system to balance, are reaching their limits during peak hours. As a result, the country is on the verge of introducing rolling blackouts. This is stated in the article by Serhiy Barbu "In the evening without light: Ukraine may plunge into darkness today".
"There were also hits to the electricity transmission system in some areas. If it is destroyed or damaged, for example, in Kharkiv, this is constantly happening, then there will simply be no connection between the consumer and the producer of electricity. In general, our system operates in a critical mode. We can only balance it by importing electricity. And in fact, at some hours, we are already running at the limit of our imports. We are now really on the verge of using the mechanism of outage schedules," said Volodymyr Omelchenko, director of energy programmes at the Razumkov Centre, according to the text.
In addition, at least three thermal power plants came under fire today, and the equipment of the plants was seriously damaged.
"TPPs play an important role in manoeuvring the energy system. That is, thermal power plants can quickly increase electricity production to cover high consumption, say, in the evening. Hydroelectric power plants, which have also been systematically attacked by Russians in recent months, can operate on a similar principle," the article says.
The situation is also complicated by scheduled repairs of nuclear power units - there are currently three of them, and the fourth unit will undergo scheduled repairs in mid-May.
"Imports from EU countries will not be enough to meet the needs of consumers not only during the evening peak hours. We are entering a rather challenging period for the power system: the height of the repair campaign for generating equipment in May-September and, as a result, an increase in the capacity deficit. And this is in the context of the traditional summer increase in electricity consumption starting from the end of May," says former Energy Minister Olha Buslavets.
In general, the article notes, the situation in the energy sector is much more complicated than last autumn. Ukraine no longer has the power generation capacity reserves of last year. The losses amount to 8 GW, which is equal to the operation of eight nuclear power units. Therefore, the likelihood of rolling blackouts for both businesses and household consumers remains high.
Last night, the Ukrainian energy sector suffered its fifth massive attack since the end of March. Generation facilities in six regions were damaged. The total amount of losses in the industry is $12.5 billion.