Power outage schedules may return soon: the reason is revealed

Power outage schedules may return as early as next week, according to Volodymyr Velychko, a member of Centrenergo's supervisory board. According to him, the reason for the return to blackouts is a significant drop in temperature. He said this in a commentary to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency ,UNN reports. 

Starting next week, forecasters predict a significant drop in temperature. For power engineers, this means that more significant measures will need to be taken to balance the power system, such as emergency assistance from operators in neighboring countries. However, before using emergency assistance, it is necessary to maximize the use of own resources. If NPC Ukrenergo fails to maintain the balance of the power system, the following outage schedules will be applied

He pointed out that after the daily average temperature dropped in October, the power system has already seen a significant increase in consumption. Its peak has shifted from 20:00 to 19:10.

However, a member of Centrenergo's supervisory board   believes  that due to the drop in temperature, consumption in European countries will also increase, which will lead to higher electricity prices. [This, in turn, will affect the possibility of commercial imports  due to the price caps  that exist on the Ukrainian spot market.

“Ukrenergo warns of possible 8-hour power outages in winterOctober 30 2024, 06:40 AM • 16434 views

"Currently, the energy regulator NKREKP has started the procedure of revising the price caps upwards, which is supported by the majority of energy market participants, and some even propose to cancel them. This is a painful topic for consumers, but it is necessary to understand that without an increase in price caps, commercial electricity imports will be unavailable, especially during periods of severe cold weather. Emergency assistance will cost much more," he emphasized.

Currently,  according to him, repair and restoration works are ongoing,  and there are plans to connect almost 1 GW of generating capacity to the power grid.

But we really need to provide air defense for all generating capacities of the state and maximize the use of interstate cross-border traffic to attract imports

Recall 

Starting in December, the maximum capacity of electricity imports from the EU will increase to 2.1 GW. Ukraine will also receive an additional 250 MW of guaranteed capacity for emergency assistance.

As of November 1 , Ukraine's energy system remains balanced, with electricity imports from 5 countries planned.