Ukrenergo warns of 5% power shortage on Wednesday, calls for saving electricity

MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) - The dispatch center of the Ukrainian national power grid operator Ukrenergo has warned about a possible 5% electricity shortage in the national energy system from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

The shortage has been prompted by a cold spell leading customers to substantially increase power consumption, while power plants cannot increase generation as quickly, Ukrainian media reported referring to Ukrenergo's statement on its social account.

On Tuesday, power shortage in Ukraine was expected to reach 1%.

Ukrenergo warned that, while there is enough energy to supply consumers right now, the capacity of power plants is limited, especially considering that hydropower plants cannot generate electricity uninterruptedly and require pauses.

Therefore, Ukrenergo once again called on customers to save energy and use electric devices prudently.

Two thermal power plant units have been stopped for emergency repairs and one has been restarted after repairs over the past 24 hours, it said.

Ukraine increased electricity imports by 9% to 3,764 MW/h on Wednesday, receiving it from Slovakia, Romania, and Moldova. The country has not exported electricity for nearly two weeks.

As reported with reference to the Energy Ministry, power supply has been cut for technical and other reasons to 380 communities nationwide, and adverse weather has caused outages in ten communities in the Kirovograd region. A number of customers also have no electricity and gas supply in Kharkov.