As power deficit in energy system increases, consumption caps breached in five regions

As of the morning of January 23, due to the decrease in temperature, electricity shortage in Ukraine's power system has increased, while consumption limits have already been exceeded in five regions.

That’s according to NEC Ukrenergo, the state-owned system operator, Ukrinform reports.

"Electricity consumption is higher than on Sunday, which is due to the start of the working week, as well as a gradual decrease in temperature throughout Ukraine. In this connection, the capacity deficit has increased. Already in the morning, the caps were exceeded in five regions: Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Volyn, and Lviv, where emergency shutdowns are currently in effect, which are also possible in other regions," the statement says.

It is noted that consumption caps for the whole day have been established for all regional distribution companies. In particular, each such company shall draw up schedules of planned hourly blackouts, which must ensure that consumption in the region does not break the established limit.

The company also reported that it managed to restore one of the damaged 330 kV lines in the southeast of the country.

"As a result of Russian missile and drone attacks, power plants (generating capacities) and the high-voltage network were damaged. The latest Russian attack on January 14 inflicted significant damage on several power units of thermal power plants. Electricity generation at operating power plants cannot fully cover consumption," the energy company added.