Considerable capacity shortage persists in Ukraine's energy system - Ukrenergo
MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - The capacity shortage in Ukraine's energy system remained at a significant level as of the morning of December 12, and updates about electricity consumption limits have been forwarded to every regional power distribution company in order to maintain the balance in the energy system, the Ukrenergo power grid operator said.
"Consumption curbs remain in place in order to ensure compliance with the limits. We resort to emergency blackouts when the established limits are exceeded," Ukrainian media outlets quoted Ukrenergo as saying in a social media post on Monday.
"The damage sustained by the energy system does not make it possible for now to make full use of the capabilities of thermal power plants. More time is needed to put them back into operation," it said.
The situation remains difficult in the Odessa region, where 1.5 million household consumers were left without electricity overnight into Saturday, the company said, adding that work to restore power supplies to consumers in the region is continuing.
Due to the complexity of the damage, the repair efforts are taking longer than expected and are being complicated by adverse weather conditions such as gusty winds and sleet, Ukrenergo said, adding that it is making every effort to improve the power supply situation.
The results of monitoring data from regional grid operators show that scheduled power cuts have been reported by the regional power distribution companies in the Vinnitsa, Volyn, Transcarpathia, Subcarpathia, and Kirovograd regions, among others.
The Zaporozhye region power distribution company has warned about exceeding the consumption limits and said that emergency blackouts may be imposed, calling on consumers to urgently cut electricity use.
According to the Lvov region power distribution company, 25 populated localities in the region have no electricity at the moment and another 57 have been partly left without electricity due to adverse weather.
DTEK's power grid operators in Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Odessa, Kiev and the Kiev region have reported emergency blackouts.
In particular, 14 localities in the Kiev region remain without any electricity at all and another 37 partly due to bad weather. Because of wind gusts, 22 6-10kV power lines have been disconnected from the power grid completely and another ten partly, in addition to 525 transformer substations.