Ukrainian energy minister expects NPPs shut down Wednesday to resume operation as early as Thursday

MOSCOW. Nov 24 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko expects the Ukrainian nuclear power plants which were completely disconnected from the power grid on Wednesday to resume producing electricity by Thursday evening.

"We expect that before this evening the nuclear power plants will already restart and, accordingly, will produce electricity into the grid. This will drastically cut the shortage," he said during a national telethon, according to Ukrainian media reports on Thursday.

Galushchenko noted that according to estimates, the country's power system is 40%-50% damaged and needs additional external supplies of power transformers and high-voltage equipment.

"The key issue is equipment. The question is how quickly we can get it. There are certain reserves, but we need to maximize the supply. There are already technological solutions on how other voltage classes can be used in our energy system," the minister said.

As reported, all reactor units of the Rovno NPP (four reactor units with a total capacity of 2,835 MW), the South Ukraine NPP (three reactor units with a total capacity of 3,000 MW) and the Khmelnitsky NPP (three reactor units with a total capacity of 2,000 MW) were shut on November 23 because of a frequency drop in Ukraine's power grid, which entered a blackout the same day.     

These three nuclear power plants have already been reconnected to the grid, the minister said, adding that hopefully they will resume supplying power before Thursday evening.