Operations of Ukraine's energy system unaffected by damage at Kakhovka HPP - Energy Ministry
MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) - The damage caused to the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant (HPP) has not had any direct impact on the situation in Ukraine's energy system, and there is no threat to stable power supply in the country, Ukrainian media said on Tuesday, citing the Energy Ministry and the Ukrenergo power grid operator.
The amount of electricity generation as of June 6 is sufficient to cover consumers' needs, the Energy Ministry said.
"Experts of the Energy Ministry and Ukrhydroenergo are assessing the potential impact of the catastrophe on hydropower generation. The actual level of electricity generation is in line with the plan for now," it said.
Meanwhile, there are risks of flooding at energy facilities in the Kiev-controlled part of the Kherson region after the dam was blown up. It has been reported that flooding in Kherson has disrupted power supply to nearly 12,000 consumers in the Ostrov district. Problems with water supply are also possible. Preventive anti-crisis measures are being prepared.
Ukrenergo, in turn, said that the Kakhovka HPP is in the territory that is not controlled by Kiev.
"Technological links with it have been lost. The facility has not been supplying power to the Ukraine-controlled part of the territory," the company said.
The power grid in the Kiev, Kharkov and Sumy regions and in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk and Kherson region was damaged overnight, the Energy Ministry and Ukrenergo said.
Some consumers in the Chernigov region and consumers in the Kiev-controlled part of the Zaporozhye region remain without electricity, the Energy Ministry said.
Ukraine is exporting electricity to Poland in the morning and partly during the day on June 6, Ukrenergo said. Ukraine is also importing electricity from Slovakia during the day. There is no electricity import or export in the evening.
The commercial import of electricity stood at 1,031 megawatt-hours and electricity export to Poland totaled 1,800 megawatt-hours on June 5, the Energy Ministry said.
ArcelorMittal Krivoi Rog, Ukraine's the largest steel plant located in the Dnepropetrovsk region, has asked some staff to work from after water supplies to some divisions came to a halt due to the Kakhovka HPP incident. "In connection with the disruption of water supply, we ask the employees of the plant administration to inform managers and leave the premises and, if possible, continue to work remotely," the company said in official information.
The situation at the Metinvest mining and metallurgical group enterprises in Krivoi Rog is under control, the group said in a statement. At the same time, industrial enterprises of Krivoi Rog, which gets 70% of its water from the Kakhovka reservoir, should reduce water consumption as much as possible, Metinvest said, citing city authorities.
The Sukha Balka mine from Krivoi Rog, part of Alexander Yaroslavsky's DCH Group, is urging workers to save water after the authorities asked for consumption to be reduced by a third. Management said in an address to employees that the situation in the city with water supply was under control.
Head of the Novaya Kakhovka administration Vladimir Leontyev told reporters earlier that the Kakhovka HPP's the Kakhovka HPP's gate valves and other surface elements were destroyed as a result of overnight strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, causing water at the Kakhovka reservoir to be released uncontrollably downstream. Water level is rising in communities along the bank, and flooded houses are being evacuated. Water levels are expected to go down within 72 hours.
The Kakhovka HPP has operated since the 1950s. It is designed to regulate the flow of the Dnieper for power supply, irrigation and water supply of the arid southern regions, and to provide navigation from Kherson to Zaporozhye. The North Crimean Canal links the reservoir and the Crimean Peninsula to supply it with water from the Dnieper. According to the latest data, the HPP is not generating electricity now.