Herman Halushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, warned that New Year’s Eve might bring “maximum harm to the energy infrastructure” due to the ongoing potential of Russian shelling that makes the country’s power situation “very challenging.”
On Tuesday, Halushchenko stated on Ukrainian television that Ukraine was attempting to use the intervals between Russian attacks to lessen the energy deficit by increasing both electricity production and transmission capacity.
Halushchenko warned that the possibility of shelling might be increased over the holidays.
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“There is a feeling that [Russians] have not refused to continue shelling our energy system. They are tied to certain dates. I think that the New Year is one of such dates when they will try to cause maximum damage to the energy system,” he emphasized.
“The situation is such that it is definitely difficult to plan anything because we do not know the volume of possible future shelling and the amount of damage it will cause to the power system.”
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In spite of the fact that the system’s power deficit had “slightly decreased due to the increase in the production volumes of power plants,” according to Ukrenergo, “the available capacity in the system is still not enough to meet all the needs of consumers in the country.”
This is because power consumption had increased at the same time as the system’s power deficit.
And according to Ukrenergo’s statement: “This is due to the gradual return to operation of power grids that were damaged during massive attacks, as well as the restoration of energy infrastructure in the de-occupied territories.”
Moreover, Ukrenergo also iterated that more consumers have had their electrical supply at least partially restored, and industrial use is also rising.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed approximately 9 million people in various parts of the country were still without power.
Conclusion
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