KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s power grid operator issued a recent appeal to civilians to avoid wasting electricity on Friday as temperatures fell and energy consumption rose, threatening recent strains on a network devastated by Russian air strikes.
Russian missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure since October have caused widespread damage that has led to winter blackouts and shortages of heating and water.
After hovering at around 10 degrees Celsius (50°F) during an unseasonably warm spell since Latest 12 months, temperatures are actually falling. Forecasters say they might soon plunge to -11°C in Kyiv and to -18°C in eastern Ukraine.
“Within the near future, a big drop in temperature is anticipated, which is able to result in a rapid increase in consumption,” state-run energy company and grid operator Ukrenergo said in an announcement on the Telegram messaging app.
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“The energy system is currently unable to completely cover it on account of the damage and the enemy’s occupation of numerous power plants that produce electricity, particularly, and probably the most powerful – the Zaporizhzhia NPP (nuclear power plant).”
It added: “Please use electricity properly, alternate the usage of energy-intensive appliances. It helps reduce the load on the facility system and reduce the necessity to limit consumption.”
Russia, which invaded Ukraine last February, says it regards energy facilities as legitimate military targets. Ukraine and its allies say attacks on civilian infrastructure might be war crimes.
Cities across Ukraine, including Kyiv, are undergoing scheduled blackouts to cut back the strain on the electrical grid during peak usage hours.
Ukrenergo said it was working with electricity producers and distributors to revive damaged facilities but that the repairs took up numerous resources and time due to complexity and scale of the damage.
Ukraine’s Soviet-era power system can’t be fixed easily as energy operators need vast quantities of apparatus.
Businesses and residents have bought tens of hundreds of generators to make sure electricity supplies. Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a parliamentary deputy, said on Telegram that 669,400 generators were imported into Ukraine in 2022, with deliveries peaking at 309,400 units in December.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash)
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