‘As a result of the massive spring missile attacks by Russian aggressors, we are facing the most challenging situation in the energy sector since the onset of the full-scale invasion in terms of the scale of destruction and the threat to the energy supply of the country,’ said Yevhen Korf, the Head of Research and Production Enterprise ENERGO-PLUS LLC, in his interview on the Dnipro TV channel.
He stressed that energy facilities, such as those belonging to DTEK, have been struck by 5–7 missiles. The published photos of Trypilska TPP, DniproHES, and Zmiivska TPP show that, in addition to the impact of the explosions, the plants also suffered large-scale fires.
‘This means we are facing both the damage of generation equipment itself and the burning of cable-conductor connections, control units, etc. It takes quite a lot of time to overcome the implications of such attacks and restore power plants,’ Yevhen Korf mentioned.
Currently, both National Power Company UKRENERGO and distribution network operators are trying to draft the most realistic schedules for stabilization power outages for various consumer groups and to stick to them. However, it is necessary to understand that new attacks, failures in already partly damaged distribution system equipment, and other factors may affect the implementation of these schedules.
Meanwhile, the Head of ENERGO-PLUS reassured that there is a range of facilities remaining unaffected by the outages. First and foremost, these are defense industry enterprises, critical infrastructure facilities, and certain medical institutions. Many industrial processes are uninterrupted, it is impossible to turn off furnaces or technological lines. Naturally, these facilities are not and will not be affected by the schedule of outages.
On their part, residential consumers or, for instance, owners of retail facilities can help the recovery of the energy system by reducing the load using autonomous generators, backup power systems, or simple energy storage devices.
In addition, the expert stressed that currently the sustainability of power supply in the system heavily depends on weather conditions. A considerable part of electrical energy is generated by solar and wind power plants, whose share has significantly risen. However, this type of generation is directly influenced by such factors as the time of day, cloud density, wind stability, etc.
‘Let’s say, solar generation is more stable in summer, so energy companies take this into account when planning their activity. However, from my perspective, there is no guarantee of the strict adherence to stabilization outage schedules,’ Yevhen Korf summed up.
