Ukraine warns residents of crippling winter power cuts
Ukrainian citizens should brace for long hours without heat or electricity this coming winter, according to a report by the country’s so-called Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) at the National Security and Defense Council.
Published on Wednesday, the publication projected that power outages could last up to 12 hours a day in the event of a moderate winter and stable operation of eight to nine nuclear power plant units.
The worst-case scenario assumes that the population could be left with almost no power at all, according to the report.
“…If Russia continues to attack Ukrainian energy, then this winter Ukrainians may spend up to 20 hours a day without light and heating,” the CCD warned.
Russia has been attacking Ukrainian power plants since spring, responding to Kiev’s campaign of drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and storage depots. The stated goal was to cripple Ukrainian arms production and its ability to deploy new troops to the front line.
The CCD report said that an additional 1 GW of decentralized capacity, announced recently by Vladimir Zelensky, would hardly help to stabilize the situation. The Ukrainian leader has said he aims to replace the country’s damaged large-scale thermal and hydro power plants with hundreds of smaller, more easily concealed power stations. According to the report, it is unlikely these could be launched before the start of the heating season.
Last month, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko warned that the coming winter would be the most difficult in Ukraine’s modern history. He predicted that the country’s power generation would significantly deteriorate as winter approaches. The minister said that the plans to restore and build additional energy generation facilities and to establish a decentralized energy supply system for the population may be too little, too late.
Ukraine’s electricity generating capacity was 36 GW before the conflict and half of that capacity has already been lost, The Economist reported in July. Peak consumption during the winter of 2023 was reportedly 18 GW.
The country currently generates up to 11.5 GW per hour, and consumes more than 13 GW, according to estimates cited by the CCD.
Zelensky has previously reported that up to 80% of the country’s energy capacity, including coal-fired power plants and hydroelectric power, have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict with Russia. He has asked Western supporters for more air defense systems to protect the nation’s power infrastructure.
