Ukraine is preparing for new blackouts – Ukrenergo warns of restrictions in all regions
10 December 23:25
On Thursday, December 11, electricity consumption will be restricted throughout Ukraine for both domestic and industrial consumers. This was reported by NPC Ukrenergo, explaining the decision by the consequences of recent massive Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
What is known about the outage
According to the company, as of December 11, the following blackouts will be introduced in all regions:
- hourly blackout schedules for households,
- schedules of power restrictions for industry.
Ukrenergo has not yet named the approximate scope of the restrictions, but warns that they may vary depending on the region.
Why the restrictions became inevitable
The decision to apply the schedules is related to the damage to power facilities caused by Russian missile and drone strikes. The country experienced the most tangible consequences on December 9, when emergency blackouts affected several regions.
Vitaliy Zaichenko, Chairman of the Board of NPC Ukrenergo, explained in a telethon that the reasons were
- a blow to a power facility in Sumy region, which caused emergency blackouts in Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions
- forced shutdown of generation facilities, which resulted in restrictions across the country.
What are the forecasts for the coming days?
According to Zaichenko, the country will have to rely on three rounds of blackouts on average. At the same time, in some regions, the schedules may be softer or tougher.
The official emphasizes that it is difficult to predict the situation because of the constant risk of new attacks.
What the government is doing
According to Zaichenko, the government is working to reduce the frequency and duration of outages. In particular, it is considering revising the list of critical infrastructure facilities that are not currently subject to restrictions, which could balance the load on the system.
Currently, the following measures are in place in Ukraine:
- hourly schedules for household consumers,
- power limitation schedules for industry.
Power engineers warn that further scenarios will depend on the scale and consequences of possible new Russian strikes on the Ukrainian power system.
