Power generation in Ukraine enough to cover consumption on Monday - energy minister

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Power generation in Ukraine on Monday, February 13, is sufficient to cover consumption, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.

"We're continuing to increase our generation capacity and completing emergency repairs following massive shelling. Today, on the first working day of the week, despite the significant increase in consumption, the Ukrainian power supply system is continuing to cover consumer demand for electricity. The volume of generation is meeting the volume of consumption," Ukrainian media said with reference to an Energy Ministry social media post quoting Galushchenko as saying.

Stabilizing outages might be applied only in certain areas experiencing problems with power supply to all customers because of substantial damage caused to distribution grids.

On Sunday, February 12, both the Energy Ministry and the national power grid operator Ukrenergo said there was no electricity shortage in the system, and therefore, no consumption limits were set for regional operators. In particular, overall generation grew with the launch of a further 1,220 MW of capacity at nuclear plants, the ministry said.

All the nine units of nuclear power plants controlled by Ukraine are operating now.

Ukrainian media reported that the Energy Ministry transferred nearly 64 tonnes of power equipment to the Nikolayev regional operator as humanitarian aid from Poland.

"The equipment will be used for repairs and maintenance on power infrastructure facilities," the ministry said on its website on Monday.

The humanitarian aid from Poland donated to the Nikolayev regional operator includes transmission towers and over 8,000 meters of insulated cables.

Ukrenergo has reinstated a schedule of electricity measurements, which it previously halted on February 10. Such measurements are now conducted in the Vinnitsa, Kirovograd, Chernigov, and Zakarpattia regions.

Meanwhile, power consumption is gradually growing on Monday compared to the weekend, which is typical for the start of a working week, Ukrenergo said.

To avoid an excessive load on power supply equipment amid the growing consumption, outages are possible in line with schedules in the Kiev, Khmelnitsky, and Zhitomir regions and in the city of Kiev, it said.

Hourly outage schedules are also being applied in Odessa because of damage caused to transmission infrastructure.