Power shortage in Ukraine expected to be considerable on Mon due to cold - Ukrenergo

MOSCOW. Dec 19 (Interfax) - The power shortage in Ukraine is expected to be considerable on Monday due to lower temperatures, however all nuclear power units operating in the territory controlled by Kiev have restarted, Ukrainian media said, quoting CEO of system operator Ukrenergo Vladimir Kudritsky.

"Today and tomorrow [December 18-19] the deficit will be considerable due to the drop in temperature. Now all power units of nuclear power plants operating in controlled territory have already restarted," Kudritsky said in a video posted on Ukrenergo's Telegram channel.

He said there were still network restrictions.

"I think that in the near future we will be able to see three nuclear power plants in the network operating at full capacity. In one or two days we will be able to further increase the volume of that generation that is available to our consumers," he said.

Ukrainian nuclear power plants, power generation from which was limited on December 16, have reached their rated capacity, and the energy system continues to recover. At the same time, power consumption has increased compared to December 17 due to a cold snap, which has affected system shortage indicators. All regional power utilities have been given consumption limits, and emergency shutdowns can be triggered if they are exceeded.

But Ukrenergo said emergency repairs were underway at both high-voltage and distribution networks and at power plants, although they are being hampered by difficult weather conditions.

Energoatom, which operates Ukraine's nuclear power plants, said on Telegram that all nine nuclear power units in territory controlled by Ukraine, were operating in the energy system as of the evening of December 17.

"Unfortunately the overall capacity of two units is limited by more than 600 MW due to the power grid's unpreparedness to take in the entire amount of electricity they can generate, as energy infrastructure elements have yet to be repaired," it said.

According to Energoatom, the energy system disruption on December 16 caused total operating capacity of nuclear power plants controlled by Kiev to decrease from 7 to 1.5 GW.