Restoration of power supply will take 3 to 5 weeks if there are no new Russian attacks – expert
Ukrainian power engineers will need three to five weeks to restore the energy infrastructure after the shelling of the Russian Federation and to return citizens to a more or less comfortable level of electricity supply. And this is only in the absence of new Russian attacks on already damaged facilities.
This was informed today at a briefing by Director of the Energy Research Center Oleksandr Kharchenko, answering the question when the situation with energy supply in Ukraine will improve, the number and duration of blackouts will decrease.
– It will take 3 to 5 weeks to return people to a more or less usual level of comfort in the absence of attacks. But in the absence of attacks,” he stressed.
Kharchenko clarified that the main problem now is not the amount of electricity produced by the state, but the significant damage to the ways of its transportation.
– Imagine that there is a highway (highway – Ed.), through which we transported electricity, and the interchange on it was blown up, the bridge was destroyed. And now we let all this electricity go through rural roads instead of the highway. And there are, of course, traffic jams, there is not enough power to supply everyone in full. This is the reality that we have today, unfortunately. And in order to restore these highways at least a little bit, we need three, four, five calm weeks, and we will be able to do it, – said Kharchenko.
He explained that there are several waves of restoration of the power system after the Russian strikes. The first wave lasts about 12 hours, during which power engineers try to restore power supply to at least 50-60% of consumers.
The second wave of restoration can last up to one month. During this time, all damaged equipment at power facilities is replaced from the stocks available in Ukraine.
At the same time, the situation with the replacement of high-tech transformers and other similar equipment is more difficult. According to Kharchenko, its production even in peacetime took from 9 to 18 months, and sometimes even longer. Therefore, Ukraine is now negotiating with European companies that could supply the necessary equipment faster.
Kharchenko also informed that if our country did not have a centralized, integrated unified energy network, “half of Ukraine would be without electricity, without power at all”.
Meanwhile, DTEK company predicted that if there is no new shelling, emergency power cuts in Ukraine will continue for the next two weeks. This refers, in particular, to the schedules of emergency blackouts in the central and northern regions (for example, in Kyiv and Kyiv region).
At the same time, DTEK assured that there will not be a complete blackout in Ukraine, even if a large number of automatic equipment is triggered.
Source: Media Center Ukraine
