20 Dec 2022 13:05

Kiev still having power supply problems - administration

MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) - As of the morning of Tuesday, December 20, Kiev experienced emergency power outages, water supply was normal, and heating was provided on a rotating basis, Ukrainian media reported with reference to the Kiev city military administration.

"The repair of damage caused to the Ukrainian power grid is continuing. Power generation is limited, and therefore, the capital, as well as the other parts of the country, is receiving a limited amount of electricity. Customers are still receiving electricity in emergency outage mode," administration said on social media.

"Boiler houses servicing about 5% of customers in the city have to operate on a rotating basis because of energy problems," it said.

Sergei Kovalenko, CEO of the YASNO power supply company, said the power supply situation in Kiev remains complicated, as only 20% of the households' needs for electricity can be met, and therefore, some households may be left without electricity for up to ten hours.

"All the three groups have been cut off from power supply simultaneously today. All critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, water utilities, and the subway, have been connected, and there is enough electricity for about 20% of households," Ukrainian media quoted Kovalenko as saying in a social media post early on Tuesday.

Another element of the power supply infrastructure has been damaged and is undergoing repairs, resulting in cutting off power supply to a substantial part of the city on the right bank of the Dnieper River and some suburbs, he said.

"Unfortunately, ten hours without electricity is reality today. It's hard to predict how quickly we'll be back to stabilizing [power outages]. Power engineers at all levels are simply unable to restore the system's functionality quickly enough," Kovalenko said.

As for the situation in Dnepropetrovsk, outages there are lasting on average from three to five hours, he said.

Blackout hits 80% of Kiev region's territory

Meanwhile, Ukrainian media have reported with reference to Alexei Kuleba, head of the Kiev regional military administration, that the region is experiencing a critical shortage of electricity.

"Eighty percent of the region is cut off from power supply. The most challenging situation is in the Bucha, Vyshgorod, Obukhov, and partially Fastov districts. This is more than 30 hromads [territorial communities]," Kuleba wrote on social media.