Electricity consumption growing dramatically throughout Ukraine, 585 communities remain without electricity
MOSCOW. Oct 21 (Interfax) - The Ukrenergo power grid operator records a marked increase in electricity consumption caused by lower temperatures and the use of electric heaters.
"Today, October 21, as of 9:30 a.m., consumption was 6.3% higher than on the previous workday, Friday, October 18. As of yesterday, October 20, the daily peak consumption, recorded in the evening, was 10.7% higher than on the previous Sunday, October 13," Ukrainian media quoted the company as saying on social media.
Ukrenergo said that lower temperatures throughout Ukraine and the mass use of electric heaters, in particular in the evening hours, are behind such a dramatic rise in electricity consumption.
The company urged consumers to use powerful electrical appliances during the period of effective operation of solar farms from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to facilitate the power grid to recover.
Electricity is being imported in the amount of 6,790 MWh (8,300 MWh on Friday) on Monday, Ukrenergo said.
As many as 585 communities remain partially or fully blacked out as of Monday morning for various reasons, including technical breaches, Ukrainian media reported, citing the Ukrainian Energy Ministry.
Power engineers have restored power supply to almost 200,000 consumers over the past 24 hours, it said.
Meanwhile, Naftogaz of Ukraine CEO Alexei Chernyshov urged local authorities to use power resources rationally at a board meeting of the Association of Ukrainian Cities in Kiev on Monday, Ukrainian media reported.
"Sustainable passage of the heating season is a matter of Ukraine's national security. Each community should be focused on energy efficiency, because it is not only a matter of saving energy resources and money, but also energy independence," he said.
Over 12.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas has been accumulated in the Ukrainian underground storage facilities as of mid-October 2024, without taking into account a natural gas reserve on customs warehouse terms, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal was quoted by Ukrainian media as saying. Ukraine also stores 3.1 million tonnes of thermal coal at the thermal generation storage facilities.
