Ukrenergo working on strengthening protection of high-voltage substations

The chiefs of NEC Ukrenergo, the Recovery Agency, and USAID discussed with U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink the possibility of strengthening the protection of the company's high-voltage substations against Russian attacks.

This was announced on Facebook by Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, NEC Ukrenergo Chairman of the Board, reports Ukrinform.

Ukrenergo is the world’s first energy grid operator to have comprehensive anti-drone protection at its high-voltage substations. And it has already testified to its efficiency, reducing the damage from the latest Russian attacks many times over. Today, together with Deputy Minister of Energy Svitlana Hrynchuk and head of the State Recovery Agency, Mustafa Nayem, at one of the Ukrenergo facilities, we discussed the possibilities of strengthening this protection and the need for the development of distributed generation with the Deputy Administrator of USAID, Isobel Coleman, the US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, and Director of the USAID mission in Ukraine James Hope," the statement reads.

Kudrytskyi noted that 63 high-voltage facilities require physical protection. To ensure it, partners from USAID have already purchased and delivered more than 230,000 running meters of steel cables and over 20,000 tons of fittings worth about $18 million.

The head of Ukrenergo also noted that the partners are ready to help Ukraine with preparations for the next heating season.

"In the coming years, our energy system will require at least 2.5 GW of shunting generating capacity and 1 GW of energy storage systems. And the sooner we start implementing this task, the more resilient the Ukrainian power grid will be to Russian attacks," he added.

As reported, on May 2, NEC Ukrenergo was forced to receive emergency assistance from Romania, Slovakia, and Poland due to a deficit in the grid.