Should Ukrainians prepare for cold batteries in winter: expert opinions
10 July 2024 18:00
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
In the worst-case scenario, Ukrainians could be left without heat for up to 20 hours a day in winter. This was reported by the BBC, citing DTEK.
According to DTEK, such long outages could be caused by Russian attacks on Ukrainian power plants and complicated and time-consuming repairs of thermal and hydroelectric power plants. However, energy experts still predict that Ukrainians will have warm batteries in the winter, as almost all critical infrastructure is now powered by energy, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
“If there are no hostile attacks on key heating facilities, there will be no problems during the heating season, as virtually all critical infrastructure is powered by energy. Also, many regions have already abandoned district heating: Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytsky, etc. These cities have switched to individual heating,” said Volodymyr Omelchenko, Director of Energy Programmes at the Razumkov Centre, in an exclusive commentary.
However, some cities may face problems in winter.
“Problems may arise in Kharkiv, because they destroyed CHP-5, which provided up to 40% of the city’s heat. However, I know that the local authorities are working on this issue together with international donors and businesses that purchase the relevant equipment,” Omelchenko said.
Residents of high-rise buildings may also face problems. Experts explain that in the event of power outages for critical infrastructure, heat may not reach the residents of the upper floors during cold weather.
“During cold weather, the heat may indeed not reach the floors above the ninth floor if there are interruptions in the supply of electricity to critical infrastructure. Because in this case, the pumps will not be properly powered, and in this case, you will need to have additional units to power them. This can become a serious problem during the heating season,” said Omelchenko.
According to energy expert Serhiy Dyachenko, everyone who lives above the 5th floor may face problems with heat supply.
“We have enough working pressure in the networks only up to the 6th floor. And there are electric pumps in high-rise buildings, so if there is no electricity, they will not work. To power such pumps, we need separate generators or something else,” said Dyachenko.
In general, experts believe that any forecasts regarding the supply of heat to Ukrainian homes depend on how well Ukraine will protect its critical infrastructure from Russian attacks.
“It all depends on whether our thermal power plants will survive and how effective our air defence will be both now and in winter,” concluded energy expert Sergiy Dyachenko.
Author – Alyona Kaplina
