Ukrhydroenergo may reduce generation at hydropower plants to store water in reservoirs
MOSCOW. June 7 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal has given instructions to look at the energy balance with a view to using less water from reservoirs located upstream of Kakhovka, Igor Syrota, general director of Ukrhydroenergo, said.
"On Tuesday, the prime minister asked us to come up with a new electrical energy balance and use less water from the upper reservoirs. If less water is used, then there will be less electricity," Ukrainian media quoted Sirota as saying on the United News TV national telethon on Wednesday.
"There will be a request to European neighbors to increase our potential import from 1,000 MW to 2,000 MW." This is necessary to provide electricity to Ukrainian consumers, and in the meantime to save as much water as possible to fill the Kakhovka reservoir when the opportunity arises, he said.
Sirota said the Kakhovka HPP did not produce electricity within the Ukrainian energy system, and that before Kiev lost control over it, its annual share in the total output by the country's HPPs was 8-10%, or 1.5-2 billion kWh, depending on the water level, and approximately 1% of the power system's total generation.
"This doesn't look very much, but if we are talking about the need to accumulate water in the upper reservoirs, then it will be necessary to reduce generation at other plants," he said.
He said these issue were being considered in conjunction with the Energy Ministry and system operator Ukrenergo.
Ukrainian media, citing Ukrenergo, said that the company, together with Ukrhydroenergo, were looking at scenarios to balance the energy system in light of the Kakhovka HPP disaster.
"The operating mode of hydroelectric power plants is being changed to reduce the volume of water entering the Kakhovka reservoir in order to reduce flooding," Ukrenergo said on social media.
Power generation is generally sufficient to cover consumption. The company said exports to Poland were being carried out from 10:00 to 15:00 hours, as on Tuesday, at 800 MWh; and imports from Slovakia from 16:00 to 19:00 hours at 79 MWh on June 7, down from 126 MWh on June 6. There are no imports and exports during peak evening consumption.
Ukrenergo has put one of the damaged trunk lines back into operation, improving power supply to several central regions. There are is no new damages to trunk lines, but the local grid in the Sumy region is damaged.
But repairs are ongoing at many power thermal power plant units, as well as some nuclear power plants, as a result of which fewer power units are operating in the system, so the operator is asking for power consumption and the use of powerful devices to be shifted from the evening to another time of day.