Blackout schedule in Ukraine may ease next week - grid operator

As warmer weather is expected to come to Ukraine next week, the situation of the country’s power system may improve, but deficit periods will emerge in place for a long time.

That’s according to Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of NEC Ukrenergo, who spoke on the air of the national telethon, reports Ukrinform.

"We will long have periods of power shortages, when we will have to apply shutdowns. Next week the situation may be much easier than this week – this will be related to a weather change," said Kudrytskyi.

He explained that while the energy industry put all available generation capacities into operation, fully utilized the opportunities for imports, it was still insufficient to cover the deficit.

Read also: Ukraine receives over 600 tonnes of energy aid following new large-scale attacks

CEO Ukrenergo reminded that as a result of the latest series of massive Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, significant amounts of heat and hydro generation capacities were destroyed. In addition, as a result of the cold snap, Ukrainians started consuming more electricity.

As reported, the chief of the Energy Research Center Oleksandr Kharchenko predicts that the power shortage in the grid will persist for at least two years.

Photo: 3scshr.dsns.gov.ua